[The Business of Naming 2026]
Agenda
You'll hear from namers, strategists, linguists, and researchers from across our industry.
Whether you work independently, at an agency, or in-house on a brand team, the 2026 lineup has something
for you.
When?
September 25, 2026 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
When?
September 25, 2026 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Where?
BRIC 647 Fulton St Brooklyn, NY
Where?
BRIC 647 Fulton St Brooklyn, NY
08:30 AM
08:30 AM
Doors and check in
08:30 AM – 09:15 AM
Check in
Check-in and meet your fellow attendees
Speaker
–
Duration
45 min
Doors and check in
08:30 AM – 09:15 AM
Check in
Check-in and meet your fellow attendees
Speaker
–
Duration
45 min
09:15 AM
09:15 AM
Opening Remarks
09:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Welcome to The Business of Naming 2026
A warm welcome from your hosts and a preview of the day to come.
Speaker
Nina Beckhardt, Early Barrett
Duration
30 min
Opening Remarks
09:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Welcome to The Business of Naming 2026
A warm welcome from your hosts and a preview of the day to come.
Speaker
Nina Beckhardt, Early Barrett
Duration
30 min
9:45 AM
9:45 AM
Speaker
9:45 AM – 10:15 PM
Naming in the Wild
Lessons for namers from non-commercial naming.
Speaker
Tyler Doyle (TBD)
Duration
30 MIN
Speaker
9:45 AM – 10:15 PM
Naming in the Wild
Lessons for namers from non-commercial naming.
Speaker
Tyler Doyle (TBD)
Duration
30 MIN
10:15 AM
10:15 AM
Speaker
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM
Naming the Fear
Fear shows up at every stage of a naming process. It softens strong ideas, blurs decision-making, and pulls clients toward what feels safe. In this workshop, Rachel Metter (Certified Professional Coach and Director of Verbal Identity at Interbrand) and Jed Rendleman (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Namer) share practical ways to spot fear, name it, and work through it in real time - both in ourselves and within our clients. When applied skillfully, these techniques empower us all to move past instinctive reactions and toward clearer, more strategic choices.
Speaker
Rachel Metter (Interbrand), Jed Rendelman (Independent Namer)
Duration
30 min
Speaker
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM
Naming the Fear
Fear shows up at every stage of a naming process. It softens strong ideas, blurs decision-making, and pulls clients toward what feels safe. In this workshop, Rachel Metter (Certified Professional Coach and Director of Verbal Identity at Interbrand) and Jed Rendleman (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Namer) share practical ways to spot fear, name it, and work through it in real time - both in ourselves and within our clients. When applied skillfully, these techniques empower us all to move past instinctive reactions and toward clearer, more strategic choices.
Speaker
Rachel Metter (Interbrand), Jed Rendelman (Independent Namer)
Duration
30 min
10:45 AM
10:45 AM
BREAK
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM
BREAK
Speaker
-
Duration
15 MIN
BREAK
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM
BREAK
Speaker
-
Duration
15 MIN
11:00 AM
11:00 AM
SPEAKER
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
How to Keep Linguistic Disaster Checks from Turning Into Disasters
Linguistic checks are essential to global naming success. In this presentation, Laurel will review the process necessary to flag names that are unpronounceable, offensive, or have undesirable connotations in target geographies. (This applies to related brand elements, such as colors and shapes, too!) She'll also give examples of how relying on AI, or even simple internet searches, for linguistic checks can lead you down the wrong path. Finally, she'll share some of the landmines she's found in 20 years of running checks, and invite the audience to share their greatest hits (and misses).
Speaker
Laurel Sutton (Sutton Strategy)
Duration
30
SPEAKER
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
How to Keep Linguistic Disaster Checks from Turning Into Disasters
Linguistic checks are essential to global naming success. In this presentation, Laurel will review the process necessary to flag names that are unpronounceable, offensive, or have undesirable connotations in target geographies. (This applies to related brand elements, such as colors and shapes, too!) She'll also give examples of how relying on AI, or even simple internet searches, for linguistic checks can lead you down the wrong path. Finally, she'll share some of the landmines she's found in 20 years of running checks, and invite the audience to share their greatest hits (and misses).
Speaker
Laurel Sutton (Sutton Strategy)
Duration
30
11:30 AM
11:30 AM
PANEL
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Better Naming Research, Better Naming Decisions
This panel will explore the realities of naming research: what it is actually good for, where it so often goes wrong, and how teams and agencies can use it more effectively to support stronger naming decisions. The conversation will consider how researchers and namers can work together to make naming research more actionable, more credible, and better aligned with the real decisions organizations are trying to make. The panelists bring experience across qualitative and quantitative research, agency and in-house contexts, and work spanning organizations including Interbrand, Ipsos, Anthropic, Adobe, LinkedIn, Novartis, and Lexicon.
Speaker
Alex Foss (Anthropic), Aron Galonsky (Ipsos), Everett Alatsis (former Chamberlain Group), Brad Davidson (Novartis)
Duration
45 min
PANEL
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Better Naming Research, Better Naming Decisions
This panel will explore the realities of naming research: what it is actually good for, where it so often goes wrong, and how teams and agencies can use it more effectively to support stronger naming decisions. The conversation will consider how researchers and namers can work together to make naming research more actionable, more credible, and better aligned with the real decisions organizations are trying to make. The panelists bring experience across qualitative and quantitative research, agency and in-house contexts, and work spanning organizations including Interbrand, Ipsos, Anthropic, Adobe, LinkedIn, Novartis, and Lexicon.
Speaker
Alex Foss (Anthropic), Aron Galonsky (Ipsos), Everett Alatsis (former Chamberlain Group), Brad Davidson (Novartis)
Duration
45 min
12:15 pm
12:15 pm
LUNCH
12:15 PM – 1:15 PM
LUNCH
Please note: Lunch will not be served onsite. BRIC is located within a few blocks of many excellent restaurants. Grab a new friend, grab a bite, and meet us back at 1:15.
Speaker
Duration
60 min
LUNCH
12:15 PM – 1:15 PM
LUNCH
Please note: Lunch will not be served onsite. BRIC is located within a few blocks of many excellent restaurants. Grab a new friend, grab a bite, and meet us back at 1:15.
Speaker
Duration
60 min
1:15 PM
1:15 PM
SPEAKER
01:15 PM - 01:45 PM
How I Made $5 Million Naming New Products & Companies
After 896 name jobs over 25 years, Steve has made every mistake possible and has learned something from each one. Oh, sure, he's enjoyed many successes: He named the Subaru Crosstrek, Coursera, and Figma. But running a naming business requires totally different skills than coming up with the actual names. So, he's developed systems, processes, and methods that work for him & he's happy to share some of them. You’ll learn about: how he became a namer, how he's grown his business, how he's promoted his business, how he manages the workflow, how he comes up with names, what a typical day looks like, how he structures a productive week, how he maintains work / life balance, plus much more.
Speaker
Steve Cecil (Wherewords)
Duration
30 min
SPEAKER
01:15 PM - 01:45 PM
How I Made $5 Million Naming New Products & Companies
After 896 name jobs over 25 years, Steve has made every mistake possible and has learned something from each one. Oh, sure, he's enjoyed many successes: He named the Subaru Crosstrek, Coursera, and Figma. But running a naming business requires totally different skills than coming up with the actual names. So, he's developed systems, processes, and methods that work for him & he's happy to share some of them. You’ll learn about: how he became a namer, how he's grown his business, how he's promoted his business, how he manages the workflow, how he comes up with names, what a typical day looks like, how he structures a productive week, how he maintains work / life balance, plus much more.
Speaker
Steve Cecil (Wherewords)
Duration
30 min
1:45 PM
1:45 PM
SPEAKER
01:45 PM - 02:15 PM
Yes, And…Naming & Improv
What if your naming sessions aren't stuck because of the brief, but because you're killing ideas before they can breathe? "Yes, And" is the foundational rule of improvisational comedy, refined over 70 years in theaters, clubs, and dive bars. It teaches performers to accept any idea and build on it. On a comedy stage, that creates momentum and prevents scene-killing. In a naming session, it creates momentum and helps prevent the death of ideas. Your team's "that'll never work" reflex? That's could be the idea that becomes your best name. In this session, veteran naming expert and lifelong improv practitioner Marc Hershon, Director of Naming and Verbal Identity at Landor, draws on more than 30 years on the improv stage and an equally long career naming brands like BlackBerry, Clash of Clans, and nüvi. He'll show how his Unthink improv principles keep naming sessions from going flat and great ideas from dying before they're born.
Speaker
Marc Hershon (Landor)
Duration
30 MIN
SPEAKER
01:45 PM - 02:15 PM
Yes, And…Naming & Improv
What if your naming sessions aren't stuck because of the brief, but because you're killing ideas before they can breathe? "Yes, And" is the foundational rule of improvisational comedy, refined over 70 years in theaters, clubs, and dive bars. It teaches performers to accept any idea and build on it. On a comedy stage, that creates momentum and prevents scene-killing. In a naming session, it creates momentum and helps prevent the death of ideas. Your team's "that'll never work" reflex? That's could be the idea that becomes your best name. In this session, veteran naming expert and lifelong improv practitioner Marc Hershon, Director of Naming and Verbal Identity at Landor, draws on more than 30 years on the improv stage and an equally long career naming brands like BlackBerry, Clash of Clans, and nüvi. He'll show how his Unthink improv principles keep naming sessions from going flat and great ideas from dying before they're born.
Speaker
Marc Hershon (Landor)
Duration
30 MIN
2:15 PM
2:15 PM
Break
2:15 PM – 2:30 PM
BREAK
Speaker
Duration
15 MIN
Break
2:15 PM – 2:30 PM
BREAK
Speaker
Duration
15 MIN
2:30 PM
2:30 PM
PANEL
02:30 PM - 03:15 PM
Insider Naming: Decisions, Dynamics, and Systems Inside the Enterprise
This panel will explore the realities of in-house naming: how naming teams build authority inside organizations, navigate decision-making and stakeholder dynamics and politics, and create systems that work across complex product portfolios. The panelists bring in-house naming experience from major organizations including Ford, SAP, CVS, Amazon, and Salesforce.
Speaker
Scott Hauman (Ford), Eunice Park (SAP), Win Platt (Salesforce), Nina Beckhardt (The Naming Group)
Duration
45 min
PANEL
02:30 PM - 03:15 PM
Insider Naming: Decisions, Dynamics, and Systems Inside the Enterprise
This panel will explore the realities of in-house naming: how naming teams build authority inside organizations, navigate decision-making and stakeholder dynamics and politics, and create systems that work across complex product portfolios. The panelists bring in-house naming experience from major organizations including Ford, SAP, CVS, Amazon, and Salesforce.
Speaker
Scott Hauman (Ford), Eunice Park (SAP), Win Platt (Salesforce), Nina Beckhardt (The Naming Group)
Duration
45 min
3:15 PM
3:15 PM
RAPIDFIRE TALK
03:15 PM - 03:30 PM
A Frame That Works: A Namer's Guide to Creative Strategy
Every practice has a few rules of thumb, which help professionals make decisions and speak the same language. Put two or more of those those rules together, and you've got a framework. In this talk, James will briefly explain the uses and limitations of an industry-standard naming framework, introduce an original framework that aims to do something different, and talk about how to build a frame that works for you and your clients.
Speaker
James Mueller (Independent Naming Architect)
Duration
15 MIN
RAPIDFIRE TALK
03:15 PM - 03:30 PM
A Frame That Works: A Namer's Guide to Creative Strategy
Every practice has a few rules of thumb, which help professionals make decisions and speak the same language. Put two or more of those those rules together, and you've got a framework. In this talk, James will briefly explain the uses and limitations of an industry-standard naming framework, introduce an original framework that aims to do something different, and talk about how to build a frame that works for you and your clients.
Speaker
James Mueller (Independent Naming Architect)
Duration
15 MIN
3:30 PM
3:30 PM
RAPIDFIRE TALK
03:30 PM - 03:45 PM
Weird with Purpose: Pharma Naming for Humans
Pharma names are weird. How many drug ads have you seen and wondered how they landed on a name like Skyrizi? Or Opdivo, Rinvoq, Ozempic, Wegovy? As verbal designers, you know the weirdness is on purpose, even if you can’t pinpoint why. The answer isn’t chaos; it’s constraint. Join Jenna Wise as she reveals the human spark behind drug naming: how safety, science, language, and regulation converge to give every letter a job. She’ll reframe weird as purposeful design within one of the most tightly constrained creative systems out there. You’ll see how her team stays strategic inside those constraints, how they build names that work, and where AI fits in as a collaborator. Once you understand the system, the weirdness gives way to intent, and you’ll feel like a creative codebreaker.
Speaker
Jenna Wise (AW, Powered by Syneos Health)
Duration
15 MIN
RAPIDFIRE TALK
03:30 PM - 03:45 PM
Weird with Purpose: Pharma Naming for Humans
Pharma names are weird. How many drug ads have you seen and wondered how they landed on a name like Skyrizi? Or Opdivo, Rinvoq, Ozempic, Wegovy? As verbal designers, you know the weirdness is on purpose, even if you can’t pinpoint why. The answer isn’t chaos; it’s constraint. Join Jenna Wise as she reveals the human spark behind drug naming: how safety, science, language, and regulation converge to give every letter a job. She’ll reframe weird as purposeful design within one of the most tightly constrained creative systems out there. You’ll see how her team stays strategic inside those constraints, how they build names that work, and where AI fits in as a collaborator. Once you understand the system, the weirdness gives way to intent, and you’ll feel like a creative codebreaker.
Speaker
Jenna Wise (AW, Powered by Syneos Health)
Duration
15 MIN
3:45 PM
3:45 PM
RAPIDFIRE TALK
03:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Storied Naming: Infusing Names with Emotional Weight
Speaker
Chelsea Carlson (The Working Assembly)
Duration
15 MIN
RAPIDFIRE TALK
03:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Storied Naming: Infusing Names with Emotional Weight
Speaker
Chelsea Carlson (The Working Assembly)
Duration
15 MIN
4:00 PM
4:00 PM
BREAK
04:15 PM - 04:30 PM
BREAK
Speaker
Duration
15 min
BREAK
04:15 PM - 04:30 PM
BREAK
Speaker
Duration
15 min
4:15 PM
4:15 PM
SPEAKER
04:15 PM - 04:45 PM
15 Things Namers Will Need For the Year to Come
Wild times we’re in, huh? This talk brings together insights from namers and agency leaders, along with recent experience training independent studios to build their own naming practices. We’ll cover what can support and grow your work, from investing in creativity and building authority to being in community and cleaning up that sloppy tech stack.
Speaker
Early Barrett (Wild Geese Studio, Naming for Everyone)
Duration
30 Min
SPEAKER
04:15 PM - 04:45 PM
15 Things Namers Will Need For the Year to Come
Wild times we’re in, huh? This talk brings together insights from namers and agency leaders, along with recent experience training independent studios to build their own naming practices. We’ll cover what can support and grow your work, from investing in creativity and building authority to being in community and cleaning up that sloppy tech stack.
Speaker
Early Barrett (Wild Geese Studio, Naming for Everyone)
Duration
30 Min
4:45 PM
4:45 PM
CLOSING
04:45 PM - 05:30 PM
Closing notes and thank you!
Speaker
Alex Foss (Anthropic), Aron Galonsky (Ipsos), Everett Alatsis (former Chamberlain Group), Brad Davidson (Novartis)
Duration
45 min
CLOSING
04:45 PM - 05:30 PM
Closing notes and thank you!
Speaker
Alex Foss (Anthropic), Aron Galonsky (Ipsos), Everett Alatsis (former Chamberlain Group), Brad Davidson (Novartis)
Duration
45 min
6:00 PM
6:00 PM
PANEL
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Informal post-conference gathering
Location to be announced!
Speaker
Duration
120 MIN
PANEL
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Informal post-conference gathering
Location to be announced!
Speaker
Duration
120 MIN
[Resources]