What's in a name?

As most of our readers must have already seen, we made a big splash today by forming a coalition with our closest competitors. There will be time to answer all of the burning questions about the joined team, but for now, I would like to start on a lighter note: the team name.

While BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos may not be the sexiest of names, in the end, it was chosen because we felt that it best served the main purpose which was to give credit to each joining team and to provide instant recognition of what the new team represented. Also, it had a better ring to it than some other combinations like Pragmatic BellKor Chaos or PT in BK in BT.

This was a tough decision, because we came up with quite a few creative ideas. Here is a rundown of all the names that were discussed along the way. Credit goes out to all members of the coalition.

First runner up:
The Usual Suspects - This idea stems from a quote in the movie Casablanca ("Round up the usual suspects"). While this is certainly a catchy name, we (PT) didn't feel that it included us entirely because we have not been recognized officially in the past, so are not immediate "usual suspects".

Second runner up:
Million Dollar Baby - A most appropriate movie reference. This was the early favorite, but was eliminated because we felt that putting emphasis on the financial aspect didn't represent the spirit of the contest or of our coalition. This is also why we eliminated Show Me The Money as a potential name.

Category cocky:
Resistance is Futile - With the release of the new Star Trek movie, we thought that this quote was pretty cool... but perhaps a bit too aggresive.
The Dream Team - Again, a bit too arrogant, but this one is also a funny movie reference. Imagine a bunch of patients in a psychiatric ward working on the Netflix prize...
Catch Us If You Can - Another movie reference, but we didn't want to tempt people into actually catching us...

Category movie quotes:
Gonna Need a Bigger Boat (Jaws) - I love this one... I can imagine 7 guys from around the globe, that don't know each other too much, piled into this small life raft trying to get away from this huge shark... "Yeah, hmmm, I think we're gonna need a bigger boat here..."

Other suggested quotes:
Not in Kansas Anymore (Wizard of Oz)
Go Ahead, Make My Day (Sudden Impact)
Like A Box of Chocolates (Forrest Gump )
Another Nice Mess (Laurel and Hardy)
The Kindness of Strangers (Streetcar Named Desire)

Miscellaneous:
Going All In - I actually liked this poker reference a lot... how it indicated that this was the final hand, win or lose.
All Aboard
First and Ten
Mission accomplished
42 - The answer to life, the universe and everything.
A small step for math

You see, us engineers, math wizes and scientists can also be creative... but in the end, we do make the most logical choice... that's just the way we are.