Preschool-type Program Naming Contest
Calling all creative writer types, marketing genii, and families with a sense of humour – the Buddings Preschool-type Program needs your help! And of course there’s a stellar prize for your efforts.
Before we unveiled our awesome new afternoon program for preschoolers, launching in Jan. 2013, we chatted with our Licensing Officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, to get her advice on the project. Of course she was eager to know about the curriculum and the finer details, but her biggest concern was for how we referred to the program. Our license is for occasional care, not preschool, so we can’t call it preschool.
Officially, we are a “Licensed Occasional Care Centre Offering a Preschool-type Program.”
I used to work marketing the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (now called HUB), so I’ve struggled with ridiculous syllable-count phrases before. Getting them to flow from the tongue ain’t easy. And don’t get me started on acronyms. Imagine inviting you and your family to sign up for LOCCOPP. 🙁
Under the impression that the qualifying word “program” would differentiate our preschool (adj.) program (n.) from a licensed (adj.) preschool (n.), we called it “Buddings’ Preschool Program.”
Not clear enough, according to licensing. People could still be confused by the presence of the word “preschool.” We were referred back to LOCCOPP.
Now, I’m all for truth in advertising, but license notwithstanding, this is a fantastic program specifically catering to 3 – 5 year olds. We’ve done lots of research into what to cover, and how to cover it so they enjoy and remember it. There’s a great curriculum, a real teacher, and a structured format. Just like “preschool.”
If you take a look at the program details pages, you’ll find the best I could come up with within the parameters. I chose Buddings Preschoolers’ Program, since that refers to the age of the children, and “Flexible Program,” and “Program Plus,” for the 2-day, and 3-day options, respectively.
Help us! We’re looking for creative suggestions that convey the message but don’t use the word “Preschool” or anything we would have to explain in a footnote. Check out the program details and send us something that reflects our centre and philosophy. It can be playful, informative, witty, childish, let the ideas flow! If your idea is the best, and it passes a Licensing review, we’ll use it, and you’ll get all the credit! Aaaannnd, we’ll give you a spot in our “preschool-type program” for 1 year. That’s a $5,000 prize, by the way.
Come to our Open House on Sunday Dec. 9, between 1 – 4pm to submit your entry! We’ll collect them all and in the new year, you can vote for your favourites on our Facebook Page. You can vote for as many as you like, though only once per name, and we’ll take the most popular to Licensing for the final approval.
Bang! Just like that, you could be the namer of Vancouver’s flexible … (insert your suggestion here).
