Juliet tells us that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” and perhaps it would. Maybe today, though, she would have trouble passing along her juliet@houseofcapulet.com email address to Romeo, and would at least consider that some things are harder to spell than others.
Maidique
Way back in 1998, what is now Bridger AAD was christened Maidique Design & Build Company.
Over the years, this was shortened to Maidique Design,
and then, with the notion that the family might get involved, I added the french word for daughters to become Maidique & Filles.
Throughout these changes, one thing has remained constant: few people can spell Maidique (forget pronounce it!). The most common error, for some reason, is missing the first ‘i’, so the name becomes madique. This is a slight annoyance during the normal course of life, but it becomes particularly problematic when you are sharing an email address or trying to get website visitors. (BTW, if you’re in India and looking for a “Next Gen Food Machine”, visit our name neighbor at madique.com.)
A New Name
It became clear that a new name was in order. After much consideration, and running numerous names up numerous flagpoles looking for salutes, I settled on Bridger AAD. A bridge is a good metaphor for our mission to connect people and places, and has the benefit of being easy to spell and remember, while the AAD makes clear that we take architecture, approvals, and development seriously.
Since the name change, I’ve heard comments that it “sounds like a dog’s name” and that it sounds too much like the name of a popular Netflix series. Ever mindful of popular opinion, we are considering combining the two ideas:
Not really, but I do love this image.
Either way, I hope Coco put a smile on your face too. I also hope that you’re able to spell Bridger AAD when you’re talking to your friends about what a great company we are to work with.
– Mark
PS
Maidique is pronounced May-DEEK (in English anyways). Either way, I learned recently that my great-grandfather invented the name out of whole cloth so I suppose it’s pronounced however you’d like!