I am trying to reach out to either the teachers/mentors or members of 8829C and 9189X.
It just came into our attention that you have been forming a new alliance.
While you have all the rights to form an alliance with various teams (and we have zero issues with that), but we would want to highlight that the name of your alliance is exactly the same as our team/club’s name - Blank.
Blank. has been the name of all 8059 teams since… more than 10 years ago.
While we do not see ourselves as the same league as Green Egg or even Discobots, etc, we have been around long enough that many teams around the world do know about us. And normally, we do not make use of the names of “old-timers”.
We even have our team name - Blank. printed on our jackets and tshirts.
We do hope that this newly formed alliance would change the name so that it will not cause any confusions.
And we will also want to make use of this opportunity to state that 8059 Blank. has is not related or linked in any ways to this alliance.
9189X insisted that it will not caused any confusion - as 8059 is Blank, , while they are Blank. Alliance.
But looking at the number plates (image in the earlier post) that they are selling - you can’t help but to associate it with Blank. more than Blank. Alliance.
I am not convince that it will not cause any confusion.
As mentioned, we have been using this name for more than 10 years… the emcees had been introducing as Blank. whenever my teams stepped into the dome.
I know names are generally not copyrighted, but out of respect to each other, I urged 8892C and 9189X to seriously consider changing the alliance name.
If 9189X disagrees, you could also reach out to 8829 on discord since I know they have it.
Either way, alliances usually don’t last very long so it won’t have too big of an effect on you guys in the long term - and if 8059 can come to worlds this year, maybe they’ll reconsider their name
Hello! This is Justin from 8829C. While we do acknowledge that Blank as an organization has been quite prominent within VEX Community, we don’t foresee any confusion being caused between the organization and the alliance given we are in completely separate continents. Additionally, the majority of teams within our alliance are quite reputable, and the majority of teams that aren’t in the alliance would associate our members with their own organization. I know that Blank as an organization is quite reputable, and a blue logo with a distinct white font will not come anywhere near our manipulation. Therefore, we don’t see any problems regarding confusion.
However, if confusion does seem to emerge, we will be happy to reconsider the name! Thanks for checking in!
We have been in worlds every year except for 2024 - and this year is an anomaly (that our sch management didn’t grant us approval to travel).
So I would think that next year we will be back.
It is not the colour that matters!
It is the word that matters,
And all I am asking is that you guys be respectful and be reasonable, eg. just look at the plate that you are selling - it is obvious that people will associate it with Blank. instead of Blank Alliance.
And btw, in Singapore, unless the ministry has given approval, we are not allowed to sell merchandise,
If anyone in my ministry notice this, I might be called up to explain the mess.
Pro tip - just drop it. Find your own name … it is clear this is unsettling to the organization with long history in VEX as ‘Blank’.
Been there with visual identity appropriation by another organization, it is not cool.
If your group feels so strongly about it - list all members and I am sure there will be other groups willing to assume those teams identities because it is not a big deal. (sarcasm)
However, ethically, I would remind all teams you are all bound to Code of Conduct
Specifically, it applies to all manners outside of events as well.
8059 Blank. is well-known throughout the world and has been an extremely influential organization since before I even became involved in VRC (more than 10 years ago). It is disrespectful to name your alliance exactly the same as them, and your (and your alliance teams’) dismissive comments on the forum here don’t help.
There are plenty of other words in the English language, pick one that’s not already taken.
Our team (66475C) has left the alliance out of a desire to not be involved in this drama and we agree the alliance name should be changed to something unrelated to Blank.
That’s not what I’m saying at all.
But what you did is a bit like this.
James: I’m going to name my new company “Tesla”
Elon: I would rather you didn’t do that, it may cause confusion
James: ok, I will change it to TSLA
Elon:
Ok - do what I did when I had to pick a user name in 1982 and Pascal was taken - took lacsap.
So LLUN sounds great!
Ok, take a step back and retreat to pick a new name for your alliance … Think about values you hold for alliance - Bold - Reliable - … or create new words from the first letters of each team name in the core alliance… or greek gods - I named my dog Zephyr! gentle breeze messenger…
