New hoopers, existing identities: What's in a name?

I'm starting this post in response to something that was brought to attention in the videos tribe today. That is -- a hooper had recently chosen a performance identity (Revolver) that was nearly the same as the one I've been using since 2002 (Revolva) and a hoop crafting name that was *exactly the same* as one I've been using since 2004 (Revolver Hoops). And just to add to the mind-bogglingness, it's the second time that something like this has happened to me in only one year.

So, first of all, I wanted to say that I am super grateful to the most recent hooper. She has been absolutely respectful and nice since I contacted her, and it's all good. I believe it was an honest mistake.

But since identity conflict has been a pretty pivotal topic in my life lately, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on it -- especially for those of you who are just starting out and considering moving forward as a hoop performer/hoop professional.

Hooping began, like many other "underground" activites, very small, but it has progressed to a point where it's on the tipping point of being totally mainstream. Every single day, I see new people starting hoop businesses or performing under some hoop name I've never heard before. But I'm not even sure if some people realize how extensive the existing hoop community already is, or how important it is for two performers/businesses to have unique identities.

To anyone who is reading this and thinking, "Well, what's the big deal?" ... the big deal is that over time, through lots of hard work at something that you LOVE, you start to build contacts and a reputation. That helps you do even more of what you love. And your reputation is inseparable from your *name.* I have been "Revolva" for 6 years now.

I started performing with toy hoops when I didn't even know there WAS a hooping underground. Youtube, hooping tribe and hooping.org didn't exist yet. Now, there are established hoop training programs that teach people how to start a hoop business. I'm sure some other long-time hoopers out there can second the fact that there was NO SUCH THING six years ago. The hoop community was still soooooo obscure at that point.

So I will admit that it *never even occurred to me* to trademark my hooping identity. It's expensive, insanely complicated, and hooping was so weird when I first started that if you asked me what the chances were that someone would start doing hoop performances under my identity, I would have said, "One in a zillion."

But time passed. And last year, a woman in a city mere hours from Detroit (my home base, where I still perform often) suddenly launched herself as "Revolver," for performance at gigs that included the roller derby -- my long-standing gig in Detroit. I don't want to say much more about that, except it wasn't a fun experience. At all. I had to trademark my name.

So, the main thing that I wanted to express is this thread is that It's my opinion that our hoop community may be lacking something important. What it's lacking is a public record of in-use names. I'm actually talking about something that is not a new concept. The roller derby and burlesque communities are good examples of communities that, like hooping, started very obscure and then blew up. The result was confusion with two people performing the same activity under the same (or even a confusingly similar) identities.

That's why BOTH derby and burlesque help new and existing performers out by keeping a record of who's already out there.

Here is the derby's list of already in-use names:

www.twoevils.org/rollergirls/

Here is the burlesque community's list of already in-use names:

groups.yahoo.com/group/stagenames/

I don't think there's anything *legally* binding about a system like this. If someone wanted to be really nasty, she could register a federal trademark anyway, after finding out that you exist. BUT what this does is address the fact that hooping, like it or not, has blown WAY up, and new people are going to decide to perform and craft hoops every single day. They are going to choose identities. They are going to continue to choose identities that are the same or confusingly similar to ones that are already in-use ... unless there's a simple way for them to check. (I'm not the only hooper who has suffered from identity conflict recently).

In regards to two comments I can see arising in subsequent posts --

1) REGISTERING THE "OFFICIAL" WAY VS. HAVING A COMMUNITY-BASED LIST:

It's fine for certain teacher training programs to instruct people to go back out into the world and legally buy up all the rights to everything having to do with a hoop business or performance identity. That's the legal way to go. If you're able to do it -- do it, because you can't really argue with it. Unfortunately, since we're artists and not corporations, just because a hoop name isn't listed on the government patent and trademark website -- that does not mean it hasn't been in use. For years. And because lots of money is required to take expensive hoop training programs AND to go follow the resulting advice to buy up expensive trademarking/registering, etc ... that really puts certain people at an advantage (rich) and certain people at a disadvantage (poor) in terms of who's allowed to use an identity.

Also, if you do a search for a word that is only one letter off from another word, you're going to think you're fine. Trying to google an identity or do a URL search in the ocean of online information is kind of ... insane. And there are so many names to be had, what's the point of having Revolva/Revolver or The WhirlyGirlz/The WhirlyGirls or Hoopalicious/Hoopalishus? Why not just choose something that will not at all be confused with anyone else?

2) "I AM SPIRITUALLY BEYOND ALL OF THIS BUSINESS STUFF ANYWAY" OR "WE SHOULD ALL JUST SHARE"

Again, fine. That's a valid opinion. I want to address it, though, because I have heard it, and I don't agree with it. Over time, I have had to work VERY hard to even register on the radar. Detroit is not full of the opportunities some other cities have. It took me a long time to even work my way up to bigger and bigger shows -- eventually 1,000 person gigs like the roller derby -- even inside the city. And then, it's taken me even longer to develop a resume and a reputation that allows me to perform outside of that city.

Anywhere that I've gotten is attached to MY NAME. I created Revolva as a hooping superwoman character for a live comic book performance I did years ago. "Revolva" the hoop identity actually existed *before* I was doing regular hoop performances under that title. And even that was six years ago. So from almost day one, that identity has been inseparable from my own process of self-discovery as "a hooper." Since I've worked hard, and my name actually had spiritual significance to me before it even started to have business significance ... it think it's fair to expect another hooper to just choose something unique.

When identities are not EASILY distinct to the average person, suddenly all of your hard work is tied in with someone else. All of *your* contacts suddenly find *two* hoopers when they google your name. Which one is correct? People who want to see you perform go to a show ... that is actually for another hoop performer. We, as hoopers, all know the subtle differences in style and remember something like a slight variation in name. The average person has no clue. And this is especially difficult when you're dealing with neighboring cities (like my first experience with confusing identities). But now I travel, and the internet also collapses space. AND google searches combine similar terms ... like Revolva and Revolver. It's way complicated to have two performers with the same identity.

Some people like to hoop for fun, fitness, meditation, etc. and I absolutely honor that. It's beautiful. The hoop is a mutli-faceted tool. So if this doesn't apply to you, then it doesn't apply to you. But because the hoop can also be used for professional endeavors, I think it might be wise to acknowledge that we have an existing professional hoop community. And to HELP people, we could have a community-based way to keep track of names. One that possibly prevents hoopers from having to go through pain when it's already too late -- and that, although not legally binding, provides a way for those without tons of money to say, "Hey, I'm here!" without having to pop up on the government's trademark website.

When this happened to me last year, I created a yahoo table just like the burlesque community's -- just to see how it would look. At the time, I felt like things between the other hooper and I were still touchy, so I never took it off "private." I've since discussed it with some other hoopers. And now, I present the idea to our entire community. If there seems to be interest, I can provide a link to the tentative hoop name registry that's modeled after the burlesque one. So, the discussion is officially open:

Would it be helpful to provide a way to keep track of names?