By KHALIL J. SPENCEREven after reading the Los Alamos Daily Post article about our new brand, I am a little mystified as to what “Living Exponentially” will mean to anyone, either the scientifically inclined, insider, outsider, or otherwise. This seems yet another attempt to, as Richard Hanneman has often said, be something that Los Alamos is not rather than something we are.
I suspect more than enough really bright people up on the Hill could have done better had we left this idea of branding to ourselves.
Assuming for the moment we have to brand ourselves like some western herd of cattle. Perhaps for $5,500 as a prize, instead of $55,000 as a consultant fee, or even for the price of an excellent keg of locally brewed beer to get us around a table, we could have come up with some better ideas.
As far as branding? We are basically a bunch of scientists and engineers living on a hill and from what I can see, that will not change. Los Alamos is a name that says it all to anyone with a clue.
Is that so hard to fathom? But if we can’t come up with something better than “Live Exponentially,” I suggest some more relevant slogans based on recent local events:
“Live to Wring the Last Dollar out of DOE”
“Live to See More Parking Lots in Our Downtown”
“Live to Stop Every Roundabout”
“Live for the Days of More Shopping at the New Smith’s Marketplace”
“Live on the Legacy of the Cold War”
And of course…
“Live in the Past.”
