Council Naming Process

The selection of the council name Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America has been a thorough, participatory process. A volunteer council naming task force, supported by the professional marketing communications firm Martin Williams, has worked on this important project since March.

This page walks you through the steps that have lead to our new name.

Naming Steps

Step - 1 March 10
- - Develop lead strategic platforms for name generation and criteria for evaluation of names
  - Led by an outside specialist, the naming task force discussed a long list of suggestions for platforms and criteria, voting for favorites, agreeing to the final lists
  - Criteria
    - Must be inclusive of entire Council (not just Twin Cities) and people, constituents, programs
    - Must be translatable into strong graphics
    - Must be something everyone in the Council can relate to
    - Inclusive and broad
    - Must express something unique about this council
    - Must have strong Scouting feel
        E.g. Outdoors, names of people
    - Must make sense
    - Feel right intuitively
       E.g. cannot be “Caribbean Sunrise Council”
       Can’t be a made up name that has no meaning
    - Appealing
    - Pronounceable
    - Memorable
    - Distinctive
  - Platforms for name generation
    - Outdoors / Natural World
    - Geography
    - Local legends / lore / historical people
    - Action / Action Oriented
    E.g. Trailblazer and Pathfinder
    - Exploration / Adventure
    - Acronyms
Step 2 – March 21st
- Core Team Brainstorming
  Martin Williams facilitated a brainstorm session which included the naming committee as well as other creative thinkers from within the BSA, which generated a list of more than 400 naming options
Step 3 – March 28th
- Evaluation, refinement and development of name recommendations
  A spreadsheet containing all the names generated through the initial brainstorm was sent to members of both councils with instructions to indicate which of those names deserved to move on in the process and which should be eliminated from consideration
Step 4 – March 30th
- Council-wide Suggestions
  All constituents of the Indianhead and Viking Councils were invited to submit their own naming ideas via the web
Step 5 – April 29th
- The results of the Council members’ voting were combined with the suggestions received via the web to create a master list of over 500 names
Step 6 – May 3rd
- Consolidation and refinement
  The best 35 names, as screened from the 500+ total naming possibilities, were then selected by the naming committee and posted to the web as well as handed out in the form of paper surveys during roundtable meetings.
  Approximately 1700 total survey responses were received. This was the final opportunity to “write in” suggestions in addition to selecting 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices based on the existing list
Step 7 – May 17th
- Determining the Task Force’s Recommendation
  The ranked tallies on the final 35 names were then reduced to a list of names short enough to be dealt with as part of a final naming committee workshop conducted at the offices of Martin Williams. Finalist names were discussed for pros and cons to the naming criteria.
Step 8 – May 18th
- Deliver the Report and Recommendation of the Task Force
  The final recommendation of the Naming Task Force was presented to the Board members at the Chairman’s Cabinet Meeting for endorsement
- Elements of the presentation to the Chairman's Cabinet follow:

The Finalists - Top 10 in Alpha Order

Glacial Lakes
Great Northern
Mighty Rivers
North Star
Northern Lakes
Northern Star
Northwoods
Polaris
Sky Blue Waters
Star of the North

Six of the top 10 in the popular vote had some iteration of the word “Northern”
Three of the Top 10 contained the word “Star

Top Three Names Selected

The committee compared the top names against the criteria for selection, identifying three names that appeared to be best. For example, one of the popular names in the survey, "North Star," was eliminated due to issues with "Distinctiveness." Over 200 Minnesota companies already use North Star in their name in addition to a current Indianhead Council district, a local Scouting museum and a remaining strong association with a former professional hockey team. The following names were selected:

- Great Northern Council
- Star of the North Council
- Northern Star Council

The committee then conducted a thorough review of the pros and cons of each finalist.

Review of Pros and Cons of Finalists

Great Northern

Pros
Reflective of the Railroad heritage of our area
Descriptive of our location
Inclusive of MN & WI
Confident and proud
Reflective of our size and strength as a council

Cons
Strong association with “Great Northern Railroad”
Tougher to evoke a strong graphic image
May be associated with freshwater game fish

Star of the North

Pros
Descriptive of our location
Relates to the outdoors
Speaks to our mission (guidance)
More unique and memorable than “North Star”
Reflects the opinions of the constituency
6 of the top 10 names using “North” and 3 of the top 10 using “Star”

Cons
Motto of Minnesota (L’Etoile du Nord)
A little too long?
More difficult to fit on patches, say in a phone greeting, etc.

Committee Recommendation:

Northern Star

Pros
Meets all of the agreed upon criteria for evaluation
Reflects the opinions of the voting constituents
6 of the top 10 names using “North” and 3 of the top 10 using “Star”
Not a common “Star” name
Descriptive of our area of the country
Relates to mission
Guiding the way
Expresses confidence and pride
Simple and unique
Not exclusionary
Has several meanings
Leader
Guide
Phenomena tied to nature
A Scouting story
Not well-known as a company or sports team brand name

Cons
Similar to Minnesota State Motto
May be a little hard to say

Step 9 - May 18th-19th
- The final name recommendation and results of the Chairman's Cabinet voting (86% approval) were sent to all members of both boards for written action and ratification.
Step 10 - May 20
- Tally board votes and announcement of approval of new name

Summary

The Naming Task Force made a unanimous recommendation to the board and Chairman’s Cabinet on May 18, 2005. This recommendation came after a thorough process that included: determining the naming criteria, brainstorming and collecting over 400 suggested names, winnowing down the list to the top 35, distributing these names for ranking by volunteers through May roundtables and on the website, reviewing nearly 1,700 survey results, and debating the pros and cons of the top candidates.

Their recommendation of Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America was endorsed by 85% of the President’s Cabinet Members at the May 18 meeting. These results and the recommendation of the naming task force were sent to all members of both councils’ boards of directors for their consideration and vote. As of Friday, May 20, 2005, a majority of both boards have approved the name. Pending final legal clearances, the former Viking and Indianhead Councils will become the Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America on June 30, 2005 at 11:59 PM.

Last Modified 6/8/2005