What's in a Name?

Island Skill Gathering has been in business for 21 years. Did you know that? Gads, when I think of the humble beginnings in a two bedroom apartment....

We’re doing this website and blog to increase business name recognition, and hopefully business traffic. And speaking of the business name, let me note my pet peeve: people who say and/or write Island Skills Gathering, or Island Skilled Gathering. Come on, after all these years, it’s Island Skill Gathering. Yes, it’s an unusual business name, but it’s certainly not a play on words or a deliberate misspelling. Skill is a single noun just like apple is a single noun. You don’t say apples gathering, right?

My wife Valerie and I chose Island Skill Gathering because it described what we were going to do: help people with disabilities gather the necessary skills to live independently. We were teaching independent living skills. We were skill trainers. Clients were skill gathering. We live on an island. Island Skill Gathering, get it?

We believed the business name was short, unique, easy to remember, and easy to spell. I thought it sounded better than Aloha Skill Gathering, which was the other consideration. And Island Skill Gathering seemed to lend itself well to the abbreviation ISG. Two other contractors we worked with initially, Ken Smith and Robin Higa, had named their businesses better: New Abilities and Access Abilities, respectively. I really like the name New Abilities. I wish I came up with that name.

The community-based service agency with the name I don’t like is Abilities Unlimited. No one has unlimited abilities -- especially people with disabilities. I should know, I am a person with a disability. It just seems odd to me to introduce a client with a developmental disability, or the more politically correct term, intellectual disability, and then say he/she is from Abilities Unlimited. Say what?! I know, the focus suppose to be on the things people can do, not what they can not do. Perhaps then the name ought to be Can Do, Inc.

Our legal corporate name is ISG, Inc. We do business as Island Skill Gathering. Most people refer to us as ISG. Should you be expected to know our business name and how to correctly say or write it? I don’t think so. It’s my responsibility to remind you of our name, our number, and the wonderful products and services we provided. Jack in the Box does it 24/7/365 in numerous formats.