In general, you can name your club in any way you want, with the following exceptions:

  • The name must be written using the Latin-1 (ISO 8859-1) character set.
     
  • The name must be unique within your state. If the name refers to a geographical area (such as a city), it must be unique within the country. Only clubs that meet physically within a certain city may include its name as part of the club name. For example, if your club meets in Paris, you may not have "Madrid Speakers" as your club name.
     
  • The name of Public Interest and Corporate clubs must include or reference the organization in which they are embedded.
    • Advanced Speakers of IBM Paris
    • 114 School Agora Speakers
    • Advanced Speakers of Paris
       
  • The name may not contain copyrighted terms, except if it's a corporate club officially allowed by your company and the copyrighted term is a term owned by the company, and you have explicit permission by the management to use it. For example, you may not name your club "IBM Washington Speakers" unless you have official permission from IBM.
     
  • When the name is used in the context of "(club name) is affiliated with Agora Speakers International", it must not create any confusion about which is the entity that is being affiliated with us. For example, a club may not be named "IBM Paris"  (even if it has the permission of IBM as a copyright holder), because when used in the pattern  "IBM Paris is affiliated with Agora Speakers International" it would create the impression that IBM itself, and not the club, is the one affiliating with us. These cases usually arise when the club name has a name that's identical to the parent organization or resembles it. Always make sure that the name reflects that this is a new, separate entity from anything else existing in the world.
  • The name may not imply that it is somehow a representation of the whole organization or an official branch of Agora Speakers International. The following names, for example, would not be allowed:
    • Agora Speakers Central
    • Agora Speakers Headquarters
    • Agora Leadership Institute 
    • Agora German Speakers
    • Agora Speakers International Paris
    • Official Agora Club Paris
  • For the same reason, the name may not include names of geographical areas bigger than a city (e.g., "France", or "Europe", or "International"). You may, however, use the name of the city the club is in as long as there's no other club in your city with the same name.
    • Agora Speakers France
    • Agora Speakers Europe
    • Students Agora Speakers International
    • Advanced Speakers International
    • Advanced Speakers France
    • Globetrotters International
    • Agora Speakers Paris

 

  • The name may not contain any kind of aggressive or hate speech directed at other groups of people.
  • The name may not contain offensive terms and must comply with the local legislation on the naming of associations and companies
  • The name may not mislead as to the kind of activities that occur in the club or their accreditation or recognition. In particular, it may not claim that it is a school, a university, or a similar educational institution. Note, however, that if the club belongs to such an institution, including its name is valid.
    • School of Leadership
    • Paris Academy of Public Speaking
    • Agora Debate University.
    • Harvard University Agora Club

  • The name may not contain any names of people, except for recognized  celebrities that are no longer living, and it may not attribute to them any kind of statements.
    • John Doe's club (where John Doe is a member of the club)
    • Beyoncee Public Speaking Club (Beyoncee is still alive)
    • Albert Einstein Public Speaking Club
    • Agora Speakers Albert Einstein

  • The name may not contain a statement of a political, religious, or ideological worldview (as this would imply that the club only accepts that kind of member, which in turn violates the neutrality principle). For example, the following club names are not allowed:
    • Believe in God club
    • Workers' rights Agora Club
    • Climate Change Deniers Club
    • Republican Speakers
    • Left-Wing Speakers

  • The name may not contain indirect statements of a political, religious, or ideological nature
    • 10 April 1889 Club (Hitler's birthday)
    • No Pasaran Club (A famouse quote by a communist fighter during the Spanish Civil War)
  • The name may not indice to confusion as to the affiliation, type or numbering of the club within Agora
    • Club 44   (for Club 128)
    • Rotarians  22 (Would imply thart the club is affiliated with the Rotary International Foundation)
    • All welcome Speakers Club (for a restricted club)
       
  • There is no requirement to have "Agora" in your club name. The following are all valid names:
    • Advanced Speakers of Paris
    • Paris Globetrotters
    • Paris Spring Speakers
    • Seine Speakers
    • Green Hill Orators
    • Science Thinkers
  • If you want to have Agora in your club name, then it must be included without variations. You may not pluralize or in any way alter the name:
    • Agora Speakers Paris
    • Paris Agora Speakers
    • Agora Paris
    • Agoras Paris
    • Agoritos de Madrid
    • Agoreans United

 

In case of doubt, drop us a note at [email protected]

Please note that occasionally we may reject a club name during the registration process for reasons not specified here, but that would conflict with the Foundation's overall goal and vision or would be inappropriate in ways that we could not have foreseen.

Last updated - Sep 1, 2024 Viewed 2,900 times.