by Andy Dudas
Before arriving at the name Dudas Inspiration Venue for the Arts, there was a lot of discussion. A lot. Naming an organization that has the potential to reach many people is a difficult process. It needs to be something catchy but not clumsy. It needs to convey what we do without over explaining it and becoming too wordy. It should be to the point, nothing more. But how do we get ‘to the point?’
We had been discussing a potential venture into an entity to serve the Arts and the community for a couple of years. To create not just a physical space but an energy and spirit of collaboration to foster the Arts and bring our community together. To offer something that has perhaps not been tried before. At least not here. To give the community, and to be honest, ourselves personally, a place to create…just about anything. There are fewer than a handful of things on this planet that excite me like the rush of true creation. That instant when you have the idea, and BANG!..you know it’s great.
As we batted around and brainstormed different names for our yet to be named DIVA group, we were careful of a few things. Don’t create a name that inadvertently could have an unfortunate acronym attached to it. We wanted to put our name Dudas(Americanized from the Hungarian; Dudash, btw) somewhere in the name but not have it so overpoweringly seem narcissistic and self serving. So we began the process of intentionally building from an acronym.
We searched for 4 and 5 letter words starting with the letter D that sounded artsy or creative or inspiring or…whatever sounded cool. When we began searching in earnest, to work smarter and not harder, we did what I call a sign of personal failure when writing: we used a thesaurus. But hey, use the tools available to you, right?
- Dudas ARTS – DARTS
- Dudas Education and Experience Place – DEEP
- ARTs and Dudas Entertainment and Collaboration Organization – ART DECO
- Dudas Inspiration Society for Collaboration and Organization – DISCO
- Dudas Union for Design and Entertainment – DUDE
…while avoiding an accidental nom de guerre such as the Dudas Bureau for Arts and Gathering.
With no professional marketing or advertising training or education, we approached it from as many different angles possible. Always making sure we were being faithful to the intent and spirit of the organization. While words like ‘disco’ and ‘dude’ conjured up some fun phrases like, “Hey have you heard about that new showing at the DUDE? We should totally check it out.” And quite literally, “Let’s go to the DISCO!”
Working from an acronym, keeping control of that, we found a good starting point and ultimately arrived at: DIVA.
We already had the building. Once we had the name, everything else started to fall into place. Not long after, the logo was born. Soon thereafter, while on a bike ride one afternoon, the web domain came to us. The next thing you know, we had a website, Twitter and Facebook accounts and non-profit status.
When it comes to unexpected uses or versions of our name, we knew we couldn’t anticipate every possible variation. Months after the name and logo were already a permanent fixture and our identity solidified, DIVA board member Chris Gibson pointed out the reverse of DIVA is AVID. I’m sure we’ll find use for that one day too. So even in that, the unexpected use of our name turned out fabulous. Fabulous…what every Diva should be.
Avid followers, consumers, and creators of Art.
That’s
what
is…
But we need your help.
Please donate to our cause.
Please help us make our journey, your journey.
Andy Dudas 10/25/2017
Andy Dudas has interests varying from painting and singing, to photography and prop making. Pretty much anything that has a creative element. Amateur status in all endeavors, he finds art everywhere he looks. Always seeking his next inspiration.