What's in a name?

by Ilse Genovese

Quite a lot. For more than 45 years, the ACSM Bulletin has kept its readers informed about the programs of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. Now that the publication is no longer a “bulletin” of association news, but rather a popular science magazine aiming to inform and educate about the science and art of measuring the Earth and follow developments in geospatial technology, the question has arisen whether or not the title of the publication does reflect what member organizations of ACSM are really about.
In the June issue of the Bulletin, on page 47, we asked that you help us determine whether to change the name of the ACSM Bulletin or not. Summer, vacations, and all the other happy pursuits normally associated with this season, may have kept you away from your desk and the 222 issue of the ACSM Bulletin. Don’t move it to the bottom of the huge pile of stuff you’ll need to get to on return. Read page 47.
And when you do, preferably sooner than later, please respond. The ACSM Bulletin is your professional publication. You and your member organization have a stake in the message that the ACSM Bulletin sends out to the world. That message, as all seasoned PR experts will confirm, begins with the name of the magazine.
Everybody who receives this magazine—member or subscriber—is asked to respond. And just to re-iterate, the question to which we seek your response is this: Do you think that the name “ACSM Bulletin” clearly communicates to the public what this congress of surveying and mapping professions stands for?— What its purpose is, and how it responds to the science and technology of collecting and interpreting geographic data? If, not, we invite you to suggest a new name for the publication.
Comments and suggestions of new names for the Bulletin can be e-mailed to the editor,
ilse.genovese@acsm.net.