Help me name a Hispanic employee network group

February 19, 2011 7:10 PM

Help me name a Hispanic employee network group

My employer is starting a employee resource / employee networking group for Hispanic member of the workforce. We are trying to find a positive name for it.

What would be a good name for the group?

Hopefully it would be a Spanish word or phrase that can be easily pronounced by non-Spanish speaking persons. (As you can likely tell, I can't speak Spanish myself)

Something positive.

Any suggestions appreciated.

posted by jseven to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

Amigo

Compadre
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:20 PM on February 19, 2011

Seconding Compadre(s).
posted by luckynerd at 7:25 PM on February 19, 2011

Somos
La onda
Abrazos

Compadres is too gender specific- unless you make it Compadres y comadres.
posted by pickypicky at 7:36 PM on February 19, 2011

What kind of job network? "Amigo" and "abrazos" don't really sound very...professional. I would go with something more serious and descriptive, like "asociacion de (insertion job type here)." Or if networking is the focus, how about "La Red"?
posted by yarly at 8:20 PM on February 19, 2011

Compadre is a Mexican word, I wouldn't use it for a Hispanic network.

I like "La red" too.
posted by clearlydemon at 8:28 PM on February 19, 2011

To clear up any confusion for OP, "la red" is "the net" (which is used generally for the internet, but also literally means nets as in, e.g., a fishing net).

Is "asociación de empleados" too hard to pronounce? Too impersonal?
posted by asciident at 8:32 PM on February 19, 2011

"red" also means network - but I'm not sure if there's another word for "networking"? Anyways, jseven, if you don't know Spanish, or if you aren't that fluent, I would definitely copy test whatever name you pick with some of your target audience before you decide.
posted by yarly at 8:42 PM on February 19, 2011

Lazos.

much better term than "la red"
posted by theKik at 8:56 PM on February 19, 2011

2nd "somos." If "empleados Hispanos de ___ ___" makes a cool acronym, you might also consider that.
posted by Gilbert at 10:04 PM on February 19, 2011

vecinos
la sociedad
la mutua
la merienda, if you wanted it to be sort of a coffee group.
posted by pickypicky at 10:43 PM on February 19, 2011

El connecion
posted by azpenguin at 11:38 PM on February 19, 2011

Even before opening the thread I thought oh, oh red!
I like its imagery (networks), unmistakable pronunciation for English-speakers (or close enough), and really easy starting point for design/promo/marketing/schwag.

In my experience in Spanish and Portuguese too, networking (English) can be used in conversation especially to describe the action but red is what you form by networking. FWIW, the recent fbook movie in Spanish is "Red Social."
posted by whatzit at 12:00 AM on February 20, 2011

Response by poster: What about "adelante"? Google says this word translates to "forward" which seems to be a positive connotation.
posted by jseven at 4:43 AM on February 20, 2011

Adelante frankly sounds either radical (like a labor union) or condescending. You could always just let the group name itself. Also, be aware that there's some conflict about the word "Hispanic", so I wouldn't put that it the title. It could sound pretty tone deaf depending on where you are located geographically and the demographics of the group.
posted by yarly at 5:51 AM on February 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

azpenguin, it would actually be "la connecion."
Adelante is actually not so bad, depending on what sort of business you serve. It's dynamic!
posted by Gilbert at 7:24 AM on February 20, 2011

I suggest making a temporary name and allowing the group to consider and decide on a permanent name. They just might want a more generic name for such a work-related group. At any rate, having them decide is much more empowering, don't you think?
posted by calgirl at 8:42 PM on February 20, 2011