It's also described that the important first step in the Volunteer Journey" is to name the Games Volunteer.
It will be decided by a vote of the volunteer applicants.
There are 4 naming candidates.
Game Volunteer: Field Cast
City Volunteer: City Cast
Game Volunteer: Games Anchor
City Volunteer: City Anchor
Game Volunteer: Games Force
City Volunteer: City Force
Game Volunteer: Shining Blue
City Volunteer: Shining Blue Tokyo
The meaning and the intention f each naming is here.
Hmm... my impression is;
"Field Cast" sounds quite ordinary and is like Disneyland?
The word "Anchor" is less familiar to Japanese people. "Force" might be the same.
And so, I voted "Shining Blue", it's quite a novel name though.
"Shining Blue" is based on indigo blue color used for the Tokyo 2020 Games emblem.
The result will be released at the end of this month.
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For reference;
At the RWC 2019 Japan, the name of the Volunteer Program (not volunteer, but the program) is "NO-SIDE."
There is the program emblem.
Giving something a name is always a difficult task.
ReplyDeleteThe names need to be quite short, but still convey a meaning.
But the meaning that people will get from a name depends on the personality and culture of the person, and their knowledge of the language used for the name.
I will give my reactions to these names as a British native English speaker.
My first thought when seeing "cast" was the meaning "to throw". Because the word "field" was there, I thought of the field events of the Olympic Games that involve throwing: shotput, hammer and javelin.
Then I realised the intended meaning of a cast of players, as in a drama or movie. I don't think that is an appropriate image for volunteers because they will not be performing a script or trying to be the centre of attention in a play.
As you wrote, it makes them sound like the staff at Disneyland.
I also wonder why the word "Field" was used in this case, rather than "Games" like in two of the other choices.
"Anchor", when referring to a person, is most often associated with a TV news reader who coordinates the contribution from various reporters.
It is a very specific type of job. More generally, "anchor" makes me think of stability and preventing something from moving. That isn't a good image for the volunteers who should be working to keep things moving smoothly.
"Force" is reasonable. We use it for teams of people doing a supportive and protective type of job. For example, "police force" and "air force". But in that sense it has the feeling of an authority to be obeyed, rather than a team ready to assist whoever needs help.
Giving a meaningful, accurate and unconfusing name is difficult indeed.
So why not give up trying the impossible...
"Shining Blue" tells us nothing, or very little. But maybe it is the best name for that exact reason.
People will not get any wrong associations from that name.
The other three names are not completely obvious and need to be explained. But I thought the explanations on the Tokyo2020 web page were not at all good. It felt like somebody invented the names first, and then tried to think of a reason to justify them.
"Shining Blue" is a pure image type of name, without much functional meaning.
Therefore, it also needs to be explained and the web page description is quite good and direct.
"Shining Blue" is a unique name and memorable after people have learnt it.
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I am not a Rugby fan and only occasionally watch a match on TV. I hadn't heard the expression "no side" before and looked up the definition and explanation given here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/no_side
The name seemed strange to me, but obviously Rugby fans will recognise it.
Is it a good name for the volunteer programme, though? "No side" refers to the end of the game. Will people think of the volunteers' role being to clear away the rubbish in the stadiums after the matches (as Japanese fans famously do)?
Well, there is no voting for or against the name. It is already decided.
What will the volunteers be called: "Team No-Side Volunteers", as on the logo, or more simply "No-siders"?
Oh, "cast" gives native speakers the impression like that. I see.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the word "cast", almost all Japanese come up with roles of dramas or movies. "Cast" has even become a Japanese word as the meaning of that.
I hope that it is not selected, I think this naming might become most popular among Japanese people though.
"Field" has also become a Japanese word and we often use it as the meaning of some places where people work or perform.
I also feel strange that "anchor" was used. I can't see any intention why it is used.
The word "no-side" is VERY famous in Japan. When we Japanese people hear it, we first think of the end of a rugby match. It represents something like "friend and foe alike" now that a match is finished - "no-side spirit."
It has been used as a good word for a long time here in Japan. However, I heard recently that this word is unknown outside Japan and so, "full time" is now used instead, as a meaning of the end of a match.
In spite of that, the word "no-side" was intentionally used for the volunteer program this time, because Japanese people has been admiring "no-side spirit."
Hmm... as usual, Japan is very domestic, though the Olympics is an international event. Regarding the Rugby World Cup, I understand that the organizing committee decided to use the work "no-side" intentionally knowing it is unknown outside Japan.
However, regarding the Olympic volunteer names, I wonder why the organizing committee sees and conciders only for Japanese.