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Name your project

Spend time with participants, stakeholders, sponsors, or others who have an interest in your project getting the name right.

In an academic or bureaucratic environment the name should be descriptive. The project may have a short descriptive title not longer than five words, and a sub-title not longer than fifteen words, so that the entire title could be up to twenty words long. Then try to reduce the length of the title without sacrificing descriptive value. 

In academic and bureaucratic settings think about the value of a name that can identity your project to interested people in data bases or file indexes. 

In other contexts, you may want a short catchy name for the project, that communicates to key audiences what the project may be about. Depending on the audience you are aiming at, this might not be a descriptive title.   

In some contexts it is useful to have a title that arouses interest, catches people's imagination or attracts participation. 

It is sometimes a good idea to have some kind of naming ceremony to launch the planning process for your project. This can be an opportunity to advertise the project, a team building occasion, and a chance to attract new participants early in the life of the project.

Some projects start with a working title, then workshop an official name when more is understood about what the project will become.