Since the first event I organized each was announced and held under some name. Perl event classification says nothing about naming. Well, not every type of event (conference, workshop, hackathon and PM-group meeting) should have the name, especially PM social meetings :-) And not every event we have in the calendar today does have name.
Names bring additional fun to such events. Even those with a potential to be successful being nameless become more attractive when they have names. And it adds one more term search to monitor blogs.
First names were my own idea and decision, later ones were born with the help of people who lead local PM-groups and organize events there. Best names from the following list appeared spontaneously.
As soon as an event gets the name it gets the responsibility to follow the name, that is talks should confirm with it. And that adds additional integrity to the event in whole.
Perl Today
It was the first ever workshop in Russia. Only four speakers were in the schedule and I made three talks myself. Along with my personal interests these talks were about Perl 6, Perl and XSLT and using Test::* modules. I named the workshop "Perl Today" not only because there were two talks about Perl 6 but also because I wanted to show that Perl is a language that does live today.
Perl Mova
Word "mova" means "language" in Ukrainian. And by the way, this name is the only which includes fully non-English word in it. I choose the name because it sounds close to "Perl Nova" which is fun enough, while direct translation is quite straightforward ("Perl language"). Well, the phrase is not true Ukrainian because in this language you should rather say "Mova Perl". Note that this name gives lots of freedom in selecting talk topics.
May Perl
This name is the most spontaneous one. After first workshop which was in October I announces the preliminary date of second one. I did not want to wait one year and announced that it will be in May. "May" is also a modal verb so the meaning of the whole name not only tells the date of the event but also suggests the topic: "Talk about what Perl may do". Title with the name of the month in it also restricts the number of days when the event can took place. It was especially important after we decided to change the status of the event and make the conference rather than workshop.
Far East Perl
This is forthcoming event we plan to organize in Vladivostok in September. Again the name is quite straightforward and cannot restrict the topics. Not every time geographical element makes the name better but I find "Far East Perl" good enough.
BY Perl
Another autumn event, in the capital of Belarus, Minsk. BY is the code of the country, and that made the whole name. It was suggested by members of Minsk.pm mailing list. Well, "BY Perl" is again a linguistic play and it should be treated as "By means of Perl".
Saint-Perl
This name is an idea of how to call the workshop in Saint-Petersburg. The name is ad hoc and the workshop itself is only in embryo. But as with "May Perl", good name makes a desire to make the event stronger. Name first, than Act! :-)
Names could be rotated but I think we will be able to invent enough unique names for every event we will make. Additional headache is the question of where to put the name. I suppose the best is to put it between formal description and the year. Such as in "YAPC::Russia 'May Perl' 2008".
