We got El A Tech'd again.

[Dawgpix]

Boy, I'm so happy PawDawg and his lapdog have been schooling me on all the interpretations. Here are some of the examples I dealt with Saturday night in Jones AT&T Stadium.
I thought, gosh, I haven't been "L-T'd" in years. And to think another school is gonna "Tech" me!

The irony of it all? The TTech marketing/news bureau guy is a Louisiana Tech alumnus.

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[Dawgonit]

Why are people against having a nickname for the university? This is a common trait for all different types of universities. Missouri - Mizzou, University of Mississippi - Ole Miss, University of California Berkeley - Cal.

There's no reason Louisiana Tech shouldn't have one, and there are good reasons to have one. The most important being marketing. We can develop our brand around the nickname much easier than using a full name. Louisiana Tech University sounds nice as does University of Mississippi. But why doesn't the University of Mississippi appear on television broadcasts? Because they've created an established brand with "Ole Miss" that helps to market their university. It's easier to say and easier to recognize. No one confuses Ole Miss with any other university in Mississippi, everyone knows exactly who they are through their use of consistent marketing and branding with "Ole Miss".

The problem with our brand is that our logos have created inconsistencies. The LATECH logo was created to brand the university as Lah Tech because were already pronouncing it like that. They took something that had developed naturally and wanted to establish it for marketing reasons. This a great idea that other universities have done with success (Mizzou, Cal, Ole Miss). The problem is that instead of creating a consistent brand, the use of capital letters has caused people to call the universities two different things. Lah Tech and Ell Aye Tech.

This is horrible for marketing. Saying Ell Aye anywhere in the country makes people think of Los Angeles. You don't want people confused with your brands. We don't want people thinking we are located in Los Angeles so Ell Aye is incorrect. We want people to think of our university in Louisiana. Lah Tech can be marketed that way. No one can confuse "lah" with any other place or university. That can be our specific consistent brand, but having all capital letters in our logo LATECH has made our brand inconsistent.

We need to change the logo among other things to fix this problem, other wise the university's marketing isn't reaching its potential. A nickname is good for the university and can be used for marketing. We need to make sure it is consistent. This Ell Aye versus Lah thing needs to end.

[ETxBullDawg]

My problem is the pronunciation of our school. It is Louisiana Tech or just TECH if you are in Louisiana... The abbreviated logo is fine for clothing, signage and apparel only. During Saturday night's game the play-by-play announcer most always referred to us as Louisiana Tech (which sounded great) while Baldinger (color analyst) kept calling us LAH Tech which just sounds lazy and disrespectful to me. LAH LAH LAH sounds like someone is choking on a bone when spoken. EL A Tech is just crappy when spoken.

[PawDawg]

Lah or Louisiana is what we ask the announcers call us.

Reminds me of a Guy Clark song. If you are not old enough to know who Guy Clark is, Get off my Lawn!

[Dawg06]

Why are people against having a nickname for the university? This is a common trait for all different types of universities. Missouri - Mizzou, University of Mississippi - Ole Miss, University of California Berkeley - Cal.

There's no reason Louisiana Tech shouldn't have one, and there are good reasons to have one. The most important being marketing. We can develop our brand around the nickname much easier than using a full name. Louisiana Tech University sounds nice as does University of Mississippi. But why doesn't the University of Mississippi appear on television broadcasts? Because they've created an established brand with "Ole Miss" that helps to market their university. It's easier to say and easier to recognize. No one confuses Ole Miss with any other university in Mississippi, everyone knows exactly who they are through their use of consistent marketing and branding with "Ole Miss".

The problem with our brand is that our logos have created inconsistencies. The LATECH logo was created to brand the university as Lah Tech because were already pronouncing it like that. They took something that had developed naturally and wanted to establish it for marketing reasons. This a great idea that other universities have done with success (Mizzou, Cal, Ole Miss). The problem is that instead of creating a consistent brand, the use of capital letters has caused people to call the universities two different things. Lah Tech and Ell Aye Tech.

This is horrible for marketing. Saying Ell Aye anywhere in the country makes people think of Los Angeles. You don't want people confused with your brands. We don't want people thinking we are located in Los Angeles so Ell Aye is incorrect. We want people to think of our university in Louisiana. Lah Tech can be marketed that way. No one can confuse "lah" with any other place or university. That can be our specific consistent brand, but having all capital letters in our logo LATECH has made our brand inconsistent.

We need to change the logo among other things to fix this problem, other wise the university's marketing isn't reaching its potential. A nickname is good for the university and can be used for marketing. We need to make sure it is consistent. This Ell Aye versus Lah thing needs to end.

I would just add that I think it's not simply our logo causing causing the El A Tech problem. Our botched branding goes much further than that. I think the university and athletic department stylizing our name as "LA Tech" and "LATech" is far more detrimental to our brand and leads to more people saying El A Tech than our all caps logo.

[Dawg06]

Even Dave Nitz is El A Tech'ing us all over the coach's show! At El A Tech F B on Twitter!

[JuBru]

Do you not consider that spelling out of a web address? Saying "lah" would not convey what the address is. There is no mistaking Tech dot com, though.




*I shouldn't post when distracted. "Lah" Tech is/was common enough around here. Still, sometimes it is necessary to spell it out.

[Woof!]

This problem seems to be somewhat "baked in". With "Louisiana Tech" being 14 letters long (including the space), it is obviously much too long to put on a lot of scoreboards, television graphics, t-shirts, helmets, and sports merchandise. People usually say what they read...LA or Lah rather than Louisiana. It's kind of like the name Diamondbacks being abbreviated to D'backs because of the name length and people say D'backs. I don't know what can be done with the vernacular for off campus games other than the SID getting the word out to the announcers of games and sportscasters who report on Tech games.

[The Historian]

Why are people against having a nickname for the university? This is a common trait for all different types of universities. Missouri - Mizzou, University of Mississippi - Ole Miss, University of California Berkeley - Cal.

There's no reason Louisiana Tech shouldn't have one, and there are good reasons to have one. The most important being marketing. We can develop our brand around the nickname much easier than using a full name. Louisiana Tech University sounds nice as does University of Mississippi. But why doesn't the University of Mississippi appear on television broadcasts? Because they've created an established brand with "Ole Miss" that helps to market their university. It's easier to say and easier to recognize. No one confuses Ole Miss with any other university in Mississippi, everyone knows exactly who they are through their use of consistent marketing and branding with "Ole Miss".

The problem with our brand is that our logos have created inconsistencies. The LATECH logo was created to brand the university as Lah Tech because were already pronouncing it like that. They took something that had developed naturally and wanted to establish it for marketing reasons. This a great idea that other universities have done with success (Mizzou, Cal, Ole Miss). The problem is that instead of creating a consistent brand, the use of capital letters has caused people to call the universities two different things. Lah Tech and Ell Aye Tech.

This is horrible for marketing. Saying Ell Aye anywhere in the country makes people think of Los Angeles. You don't want people confused with your brands. We don't want people thinking we are located in Los Angeles so Ell Aye is incorrect. We want people to think of our university in Louisiana. Lah Tech can be marketed that way. No one can confuse "lah" with any other place or university. That can be our specific consistent brand, but having all capital letters in our logo LATECH has made our brand inconsistent.

We need to change the logo among other things to fix this problem, other wise the university's marketing isn't reaching its potential. A nickname is good for the university and can be used for marketing. We need to make sure it is consistent. This Ell Aye versus Lah thing needs to end.

Well said. One of the best posts ever on this topic.

[NavyBulldog1]

Why are people against having a nickname for the university? This is a common trait for all different types of universities. Missouri - Mizzou, University of Mississippi - Ole Miss, University of California Berkeley - Cal.

There's no reason Louisiana Tech shouldn't have one, and there are good reasons to have one. The most important being marketing. We can develop our brand around the nickname much easier than using a full name. Louisiana Tech University sounds nice as does University of Mississippi. But why doesn't the University of Mississippi appear on television broadcasts? Because they've created an established brand with "Ole Miss" that helps to market their university. It's easier to say and easier to recognize. No one confuses Ole Miss with any other university in Mississippi, everyone knows exactly who they are through their use of consistent marketing and branding with "Ole Miss".

The problem with our brand is that our logos have created inconsistencies. The LATECH logo was created to brand the university as Lah Tech because were already pronouncing it like that. They took something that had developed naturally and wanted to establish it for marketing reasons. This a great idea that other universities have done with success (Mizzou, Cal, Ole Miss). The problem is that instead of creating a consistent brand, the use of capital letters has caused people to call the universities two different things. Lah Tech and Ell Aye Tech.

This is horrible for marketing. Saying Ell Aye anywhere in the country makes people think of Los Angeles. You don't want people confused with your brands. We don't want people thinking we are located in Los Angeles so Ell Aye is incorrect. We want people to think of our university in Louisiana. Lah Tech can be marketed that way. No one can confuse "lah" with any other place or university. That can be our specific consistent brand, but having all capital letters in our logo LATECH has made our brand inconsistent.

We need to change the logo among other things to fix this problem, other wise the university's marketing isn't reaching its potential. A nickname is good for the university and can be used for marketing. We need to make sure it is consistent. This Ell Aye versus Lah thing needs to end.

Although I agree with your conclusion that the controversy needs to be put to rest, I disagree with the use of "Lah Tech" and support "L-A Tech". Now that I've made my position made, hear me out:

There are four Techs that matter: Louisiana (first of course), Virginia, Georgia, and Texas. All schools are often abbreviated by their two letter state designation: LA, VA, GA, and TX.

Louisiana Tech is the only state that pronounces their abbreviation. I live in Virginia and nobody says "Vah Tech" or "V-A Tech", they say Virginia Tech. Similarly, nobody says "Gah Tech" or "G-A Tech" or "Tix Tech" or "T-X Tech."

Ours has caught on (both "Lah" and "L-A"), but similar to ULL trying to convince the masses to drop the "Lafayette" it isn't going to happen. I agree with your Ole Miss and Mizzou conclusion that the abbreviations are good for marketing.

People who confuse "L-A Tech" with "Los Angeles Tech" are both an extreme minority if any exist and simply look uneducated if they say were to say that out loud. Example - I was in the Navy with an LSU graduate. We were out in DC on a Saturday, and he was wearing an LSU shirt. Someone from Brooklyn asked if he attended Long Island State University. Everyone laughed at her because of what she said and then we laughed at him for looking so disgusted. Is LSU going change anything because of a person like this? No.

Similarly, we are not located in France - "Lah Tech", which could be translated to "The Tech" from someone outside the U.S. .... Are you trying to endorse the commercial?!?

For some reason I associate "La" with "Lah" and "LA" with "L-A". Since our logo often shows up as LA Tech when abbreviated, I simply associate with "L-A Tech."

[Woof!]

Since our logo schools shows up as LA Tech when abbreviated, I simply associate with "L-A Tech."

Are you advocating a logo change to L-A Tech?

[qng001]

Although I agree with your conclusion that the controversy needs to be put to rest, I disagree with the use of "Lah Tech" and support "L-A Tech". Now that I've made my position made, hear me out:

There are four Techs that matter: Louisiana (first of course), Virginia, Georgia, and Texas. All schools are often abbreviated by their two letter state designation: LA, VA, GA, and TX.

Louisiana Tech is the only state that pronounces their abbreviation. I live in Virginia and nobody says "Vah Tech" or "V-A Tech", they say Virginia Tech. Similarly, nobody says "Gah Tech" or "G-A Tech" or "Tix Tech" or "T-X Tech."

Ours has caught on (both "Lah" and "L-A"), but similar to ULL trying to convince the masses to drop the "Lafayette" it isn't going to happen. I agree with your Ole Miss and Mizzou conclusion that the abbreviations are good for marketing.

People who confuse "L-A Tech" with "Los Angeles Tech" are both an extreme minority if any exist and simply look uneducated if they say were to say that out loud. Example - I was in the Navy with an LSU graduate. We were out in DC on a Saturday, and he was wearing an LSU shirt. Someone from Brooklyn asked if he attended Long Island State University. Everyone laughed at her because of what she said and then we laughed at him for looking so disgusted. Is LSU going change anything because of a person like this? No.

Similarly, we are not located in France - "Lah Tech", which could be translated to "The Tech" from someone outside the U.S. .... Are you trying to endorse the commercial?!?

For some reason I associate "La" with "Lah" and "LA" with "L-A". Since our logo often shows up as LA Tech when abbreviated, I simply associate with "L-A Tech."

Actually, there are other institutions that pronounces their state names like UConn, UMass, Cal, Penn. I know folks here like to say that other Techs don't use Gah or Vah, well it doesn't roll off the tounge as well as Lah.

Also Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are nicknames/shorthand of their institution's name.

Georgia Tech - Georgia Institute of Technology
Virginia Tech - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

[NavyBulldog1]

Are you advocating a logo change to L-A Tech?

Just for clarity, when I pronounce our Universtiy name I always say "Louisiana Tech."

[Houston Techsan]

I agree that the logo should be changed to remove the La. and Tech. Everyone knows what the shape of the state of Louisiana looks like and and what else can "T" stand for in the context of a university or school. Georgia Tech has GT and Texas Tech -TT. Even removing them from the logo is not going to fix the problem of what other people want to call us. We have to be consistent and say Louisiana Tech no matter what the logo says. La. or LA stand for Louisiana. I first noticed this Lah Tech thing way back when the Lady Techsters were playing for championships. The lady announcer always said Lah Tech and it grated on my nerves then. We don't have to be assholes about and correct everyone else, just always say Louisiana every time and over time other people might get it. Unfortunately we have a lot of non alumni (especially out of staters) working for the University in athletics and other departments and it is not so important to them. These we could and should correct. No one who is a native of Louisiana will say Lah or LA. If asked where they're from they don't say Lah or ever L-A.

[NavyBulldog1]

Actually, there are other institutions that pronounces their state names like UConn, UMass, Cal, Penn.

Also Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are nicknames/shorthand of their institution's name.

Georgia Tech - Georgia Institute of Technology
Virginia Tech - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

I was trying to keep this to a Tech vs Tech discussion.

Louisiana Tech is also shorthand for Louisiana Tech University. I fail to see your point.