Conference room names

September 20, 2005 11:42 AM

My company (a web dev firm) moved offices, and the boss wants names for the four conference rooms on site. Suggestions? Personally, I like Pirate-Ninja-Dwarf-Elf.
posted by thinman to work & money (97 comments total)

Paper, Rock, Scissors, Dynamite.
posted by idiotfactory at 11:50 AM on September 20, 2005

Time, famine, pestilence and death - has a nice ring to it.

Larry, Moe, Curly, and Shep (or Joe)

north west east south

Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi

summer winter spring fall

Ringo Paul John George
posted by iconomy at 11:51 AM on September 20, 2005

I think you answered your own question.

Serious examples I've seen include names of local rivers/bodies of water and names of local streets (presumably streets with actual names, I don't think the 43rd St conference room would fly).
posted by mullacc at 11:51 AM on September 20, 2005

Easy: dead poets. Keats. Yeats. Whitman. Dickinson. Chaucer. Levertov. etc.

Or mythological names are always cool: let's meet in the Zeus room... Nope, it's occupied, how about the Athena room...

Quetzlcoatl is really easy to remember.

OK, I'm just giving you the way I name my computers and disks and such.
posted by teece at 11:52 AM on September 20, 2005

Dairy
Meat
Grain
Fruits&Vegetables

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Dessert

Blood
Yellow Bile
Phlegm
Black Bile

Rock
Paper
Scissors
Tiger Hand
posted by bDiddy at 11:53 AM on September 20, 2005

Dang, idiotfactory. Maybe i should have previewed before posting.
posted by bDiddy at 11:54 AM on September 20, 2005

At work we have had servers and some conference rooms named by mythology: Athena, Ceres, etc. We also have buildings named after crop geneticists since that's what the company does: Darwin, Mendel, Carver, and so on. Depending on what your company does, you might be able to come up with a naming scheme that fits your business.
posted by mikeh at 11:55 AM on September 20, 2005

The proper combination here is Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 11:55 AM on September 20, 2005

You could always take the Dilbert approach: Quality, Teamwork, Excellence, Action, Good Planning. Assign names arbitrarily, and then use confusion as an excuse for missing/being late to meetings.

More seriously, if the rooms have to be named (I personally don't see why numbers don't work, but that wasn't the question), I think that mullacc's suggestion for local streets/bodies of water is the best bet. I like teece's suggestions (I name all my computers after philosophers (Locke, Mill, Hume, etc.)) but then you run the risk of potentially having explain the meaning, and justify it to people with different views.

Are there any particularly famous people from the town/city? If you can find four of those, that might work too.
posted by Godbert at 11:58 AM on September 20, 2005

Trojan, Ramses, Magma, Sheik
posted by bondcliff at 12:00 PM on September 20, 2005

John, Paul, George, Ringo.
posted by scody at 12:01 PM on September 20, 2005

Ace, King, Queen, Jack.

Scary, Sporty, Posh, Baby. (No one wants Ginger.)
posted by xo at 12:07 PM on September 20, 2005

Pirate, Monkey, Robot, Ninja.

I can't agree with "Dwarf" and "elf".
posted by sapienza at 12:07 PM on September 20, 2005

Dammit, like Crunchy Frog said. Shoulda read more closely.
posted by sapienza at 12:08 PM on September 20, 2005

Fantastic, Invisible, Torch, Thing.
posted by xo at 12:09 PM on September 20, 2005

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll, Regret

Up, Down, Left, Right

Circle, A, George, Banana (Just four random, unconnected things)

Beef, Pork, Chicken, Fish
posted by Pollomacho at 12:11 PM on September 20, 2005

If they don't have to be serious, you can always go the route yahoo took: sane, articulate, decent, and continent, for example.
posted by artifarce at 12:14 PM on September 20, 2005

Britney, Christina, Ashlee, Jessica.
posted by Emperor Yamamoto's Eggs at 12:15 PM on September 20, 2005

Eenie, meenie, minie, mo.
posted by scratch at 12:17 PM on September 20, 2005

Earth, Wind, Fire, Water
posted by grateful at 12:19 PM on September 20, 2005

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
posted by MsMolly at 12:28 PM on September 20, 2005

Names from games. For example, Monopoly properties, such as the four railroads (or stations in London version):

Reading Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, B&O Railroad, Short Line

King's Cross, Marylebone, Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street

Names related to the appropriate business field. For example, names of popular browsers:

Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Safari

Famous people chosen from a particular profession. For example, famous physicists:

Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, Heisenberg

Political boundaries, for example, Chinese provinces:

Chinese Provinces:Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan

Prominent geographic features, for example, tall mountains:

Everest, Kilimanjaro, McKinley, Ranier

etc.
posted by RichardP at 12:30 PM on September 20, 2005

Eenie, Meenie, Mynee, Mo.
posted by itchie at 12:30 PM on September 20, 2005

Opera, Firefox, IE, Mosaic

Linus, Tim, Richard, John
posted by bshort at 12:35 PM on September 20, 2005

Back in the 90's the dot-com company I worked for bought a software company in CA. Their rooms were named after the rooms in Clue. Took a while to get the joke (and in the meantime, I couldn't for the life of me understand why anyone would name a conference room "The Conservatory"), but the payoff was satisfying.
posted by mkultra at 12:36 PM on September 20, 2005

mkultra's suggestion is pure genius.
posted by bshort at 12:37 PM on September 20, 2005

mkultra wrote: Their rooms were named after the rooms in Clue.

Were there secret passages between some of the rooms? That would have made it even better.
posted by Godbert at 12:45 PM on September 20, 2005

One place I worked had conference rooms named after words that began with "In" but they left the "in" off. For instance, the big room with glass windows was called "Visible." The room used for job interviews was called "Terrogation".
posted by matildaben at 12:49 PM on September 20, 2005

iconomy, it's Shemp, not Shep. [pokes iconomy in the eye, _boing_, then crushes iconomy's nose with pliers, _meep_ , finally hits iconomy on head with frying pan, _clang_]

Lucy Ricky Fred Ethel
Groucho Chico Harpo Zeppo
posted by TimeFactor at 12:54 PM on September 20, 2005

Trying to dork it up some, here.

Allura, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance. Your main work area/office can be Keith.

Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa.

Ninja, Pirate, Robot, and Zombie.

Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.

Fighter, Thief, Wizard, Cleric.

Kwame, Wheeler, Linka, and Gi. Ma-ti can kiss my butt.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:57 PM on September 20, 2005

Since it is a webdev firm, how about big names on the web: ebay, yahoo, etc.?
posted by necessitas at 12:57 PM on September 20, 2005

Oak, Elm, Birch, Hazel
posted by ewkpates at 12:57 PM on September 20, 2005

Foreign cities: Toronto, Paris, Moscow, Pescaqxaticzal, Bombay, etc
Confusing names: The room with no name, outside, the room below this one, the roof, here, there, etc
NA Tribes: Ojibwe, Lakota, Hopi, Navajo, Blackfoot, etc.

If you know that it's only going to be four rooms, the 'Seasons' that was suggested above is really appealing.
posted by unixrat at 12:58 PM on September 20, 2005

Another vote for John, Paul, George and Ringo. Also consider Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr (or even Starkey if you want to confuse the uninitiated).

Or...

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.
Heart, Diamond, Spade, Club.
Cup, Wand, Coin, Sword.
Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo.
Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo.
Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Blanka.
Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Mummy.

You might need more buildings.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:59 PM on September 20, 2005

White, Red, Blue, Green. (allows for future conference rooms such as Black, Artifact, and Combination)
Bingo, Bango, Bongo, Irving.
Barry, Maurice, Robin, Andy.
Po, La-La, Tinky-Winky, Dipsy.
Inky, Winky, Pinky, Clyde.
Mike, Micky, Peter, Davy.
Oobi, Keko, Uma, Grampu.
posted by gnomeloaf at 1:02 PM on September 20, 2005

Holodeck, Engineering, Sickbay, Transporter Room, Ten Forward, etc.
posted by trevyn at 1:04 PM on September 20, 2005

A,B,C,D.

I dislike cutesy names for rooms.

I'd hope that "Meet me in Dwarf" would lose it's appeal after a few weeks.
posted by madajb at 1:10 PM on September 20, 2005

Bingo, Bango, Bongo, Irving.

The Mosquitoes!
posted by bondcliff at 1:11 PM on September 20, 2005

You could follow the scheme I used for my goldfishes:
Hannibal, Murdoch, Faceman, Barracas
posted by teg at 1:17 PM on September 20, 2005

Bob, Carol, Ted, Alice.

I must be a total dork, but I think mkultra's idea wins.

And bDiddy, isn't Yellow Bile "Choler", and Black Bile, well... just "Bile".
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:17 PM on September 20, 2005

CMYK
posted by TimeFactor at 1:18 PM on September 20, 2005

bondcliff - That's great! And it reminded me, how about:
Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper, Snork
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:20 PM on September 20, 2005

New York, Paris, London, Munich.
posted by elle.jeezy at 1:23 PM on September 20, 2005

0,1,2,3
Alpha, Beta, RC1, Gold
posted by punilux at 1:24 PM on September 20, 2005

New York, London, Paris, Munich.
posted by elle.jeezy at 1:24 PM on September 20, 2005

Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben
Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel, Security
posted by Scoo at 2:00 PM on September 20, 2005

DIV
SPAN
#class
.id
posted by johnj at 2:12 PM on September 20, 2005

Computer related company?
Babbage, Lovelace, Turing, von Neumann.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 2:14 PM on September 20, 2005

Square, Triangle, Circle, X
A, B, Select, Start
posted by me3dia at 2:35 PM on September 20, 2005

Belgian artists: Magritte, Broodthaers, Delvaux, Ensor
posted by komilnefopa at 2:44 PM on September 20, 2005

Of course ObscureReferenceMan picks up on an obscure reference. According to wiki, it's yellow and black bile. Though choleric is one of the four temperaments.
So, to not derail this too much how about, "Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, Melancholic".

I don't think they're as good as the Voltron ones though.
posted by bDiddy at 2:48 PM on September 20, 2005

Apple in the UK used to name their conference rooms after sci-fi characters. Or, at least, as a journalist I was taken into Slartibartfast more than once to view yet-to-be-released machines...
posted by littleme at 2:51 PM on September 20, 2005

delmore, mossby, pilcrow & pomegranate
posted by Satapher at 3:10 PM on September 20, 2005

bin, dev, proc, lib

0, 1, 2, 3

Michaelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello
posted by Netzapper at 3:27 PM on September 20, 2005

My ideas are already taken, so I'll second:

Harpo, Chico, Groucho, Zeppo
eenie, meenie, mienie, mo
Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart

And I really like the suggestion of confusing room names:

here, there, upstairs, downstairs
posted by Specklet at 3:27 PM on September 20, 2005

Birth, School, Work, Death
posted by Sara Anne at 3:30 PM on September 20, 2005

what, no one has suggested 00, 01, 10, 11?
posted by muddgirl at 3:33 PM on September 20, 2005

I dislike cutesy names, because they don't scale, and they are not self-documenting. But if you must: Scott, Adams, Jones, Clark
posted by Triode at 3:34 PM on September 20, 2005

Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny, Tommy
posted by Sara Anne at 3:35 PM on September 20, 2005

I nearly agree with bshort, but think you should use full names.
Tim Berners-Lee, Alan Turing, Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace.
posted by seanyboy at 3:38 PM on September 20, 2005

Maggie, Hopey, Izzy, Terry
posted by Sara Anne at 3:40 PM on September 20, 2005

Aha, Also beaten by crunchy frog.
My second go is for (pantone?) names for web-safe colours. e.g.
Strong Emerald, Brilliant Orange, Vivid Magenta, Deep Orchid.
posted by seanyboy at 3:43 PM on September 20, 2005

There, Their, Hear and Here

:), :(, ;) and :P
posted by gnomeloaf at 4:11 PM on September 20, 2005

Eenie, Meanie, Miney, Moe
posted by pmbuko at 4:31 PM on September 20, 2005

damn it, itchie! (i searched for moe)
posted by pmbuko at 4:33 PM on September 20, 2005

MetaFilter: as a journalist I was taken into Slartibartfast more than once
posted by kindall at 4:36 PM on September 20, 2005

PLEASE please please let us know what you decide.

sine, cosine, secant, cosecant (room to expand into tan and cot)
head, shoulders, knees, toes
lions, tigers, bears, oh my!
air, earth, fire, water
guanine, adenine, thymine, cytosine (G,A,T,C to keep it a little mysterious)
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
penny, nickel, dime, quarter
posted by gleuschk at 4:42 PM on September 20, 2005

"PLEASE please please let us know what you decide."

I certainly will. The final decision isn't mine alone, so it'll take a few days.

There have been many excellent suggestions so far. I appreciate the help.
posted by thinman at 4:55 PM on September 20, 2005

roast beef, ray, phillipe, lyle
posted by abingham at 5:12 PM on September 20, 2005

Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Esc

posted by chaschas at 5:24 PM on September 20, 2005

Cell Blocks A, B, C & D
Manny, Moe, Jack & Diane
posted by clh at 5:52 PM on September 20, 2005

Also going for dork here. Mostly.

R, O, F, L.
Warrior, Wizard, Valkyrie, Elf.
Thing, Torch, Fantastic, and Invisible.
Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, someone else. Apollo? Then if you get four more rooms you can do Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Diana.
Callisto, Ganymede, Europa, Io.
Yosemite, Fudd, Coyote, Devil.
(Dodge! Parry! Spin! Ha! (-the closet) Thrust!)
Spike, Jet, Faye, Eddy.
Porthos, Athos, Aramis, D.
Tiger! Mantis! Crane! Dragon! You have to use the exclamation points.
Dork, Wuss, Geek, Nerd.
posted by furiousthought at 6:05 PM on September 20, 2005

Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat
posted by signal at 6:06 PM on September 20, 2005

Room A, Room B, Room D, Room E. You'll be able to tell people you hate to meet you in Room C and never have to see them again.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:17 PM on September 20, 2005

Kirk, Picard, Sisko and Janeway (happy to leave off the 5th)
posted by holycola at 6:19 PM on September 20, 2005

Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, and Watch.
posted by Asparagirl at 6:21 PM on September 20, 2005

I will un-endorse elle.jeezy's suggestion of names of cities. I worked in a UK firm that did this (European cities) that was bought by a multi-national.
A non-English as a first language colleague from Switzerland ended up in Munich (the city, and our regional head office) when he should have used the dial-in number to talk to the Brits in Munich (the Cambridge meeting room).

Much hilarity and embarassment.
posted by bystander at 6:34 PM on September 20, 2005

You can't do much better than Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short.

(Or, if you're up on your Pynchon, Salitieri, Poore, Nash, De Brutus and Short)
posted by electric_counterpoint at 6:41 PM on September 20, 2005

I'm pretty sure elle.jeezy was referencing "Pop Music."
posted by kirkaracha at 7:06 PM on September 20, 2005

Apple Duck Christmastree Wheelbarrow
posted by RobotHero at 7:09 PM on September 20, 2005

You can't do much better than Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short.

I think he said there were four conference rooms. If only there were a way to find out for sure!
posted by jjg at 7:11 PM on September 20, 2005

pernod, ouzo, marmalade and salt

matthew, mark, luke and john

george, jerry, elaine and kramer (or possibly Cosmo)
posted by richtea at 7:53 PM on September 20, 2005

and, or, not, xor
posted by signal at 8:19 PM on September 20, 2005

thhgttg, trateotu, ltuae, slatfotf
posted by signal at 8:21 PM on September 20, 2005

We were told when we set up a new branch office with a new network that we had to name our two printers. So we call them "Bill" and "George". Perhaps the Obscure guy had it right.
posted by megatherium at 8:37 PM on September 20, 2005

Tumor
Rubor
Calor
Dolar

(swelling, redness, heat. & pain - the 4 classical parameters of inflammation)
posted by PurplePorpoise at 8:43 PM on September 20, 2005

I just hope you actually use the names. At a former job we were asked to come up with fun names for the conference rooms, and everybody had a great time coming up with clever (and only some inappropriate) names, then management decided to scrap them and go with boring safe names. This was symbolic of a lot of unpleasant changes happening in the company, and frankly I'm still a little bitter.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:06 PM on September 20, 2005

A webdev firm, eh? How geeky are the folks there?

Thor, Thyra, Merlin, Questor

Props to the first person who knows it without using a search engine.
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:55 PM on September 20, 2005

s/Thyra/Thydra/
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:57 PM on September 20, 2005

Firefox, Explorer, Opera, Safari.

Or keeping it old-style: Mosaic, Netscape, Explorer, Phoenix

(Or any other variation on browser names.)
posted by ckemp at 12:06 AM on September 21, 2005

big-fish, little-fish, cardboard, box.
posted by corvine at 4:55 AM on September 21, 2005

Souix, Soo, Sue, Sou, or if you prefer, Karat, Carrot, Caret, Carat.
posted by eriko at 7:07 AM on September 21, 2005

pointer, middle, ring, pinky

[although I think asparagirl wins]
posted by rorycberger at 1:09 PM on September 21, 2005

R, O, F, L.

Even better: R, T, F, M
posted by me3dia at 1:26 PM on September 21, 2005

Birth, School, Work, Death

or

Frank, Sammy, Dean, Joey
posted by CrunchyGods at 7:50 AM on September 22, 2005

Sigh. More than a month later, and after a couple of company-wide votes, we were informed today that the owners made an executive decision, choosing to name the rooms after buildings the company previously had offices in.

Oh well. Thanks to everyone for the fine suggestions.
posted by thinman at 3:50 PM on October 28, 2005

Howzabout Portland Blazer players in the Hall Of Fame:
Drexler, Wilkens, Walton
posted by PenDevil at 5:22 AM on June 23, 2006