The name PickUpAShift was always a mouthful and perhaps not easy to remember. The phrase did, however, resonate well with the  industry.   But when it became apparent that the name was creating confusion in the minds of potential customers, we knew that PickUpAShift was going the way of Lew Alcindor. 

As we continued to work on the Company then known as PickUpAShift, the product evolved.  Whereas, originally, shift trading and short-term staffing functions were paramount, we quickly realized that permant staffing  and scheduling would become the backbone of our business.  The name was no longer appropriate; it was too narrow.  Worse still, the people to whom we were speaking about our business were distracted by the name and assumed we only offered shift trading. They failed to grasp the comprehensive nature of the site. 

At the bottom of this post, in alphabetical order, is every name we considered (or at least every name we wrote down), before finally choosing Servinity.  The names in blue were some of the finalists.  The themes will probably be obvious: shift, service and network were the big ones. 

We tried acronyms (SIMEANT stands for Service Industry Management Employment and Networking Tool).  We tried abbreviations (SerColl stands for Service Industry Collective).  We tried foreign words (Lavoros means “jobs” in Italian).  We tried industry tools (ConnectedSpoons, DrinkGun).  We tried industry terms (Sidework).  We tried to play on existing sites (Waitser, TipSpace).  We tried nostalgic slang (Tron is an abbreviation for the unisex 80’s term “waitron,” which refers to either a waiter or waitress).  And we tried the completely random (DishTail, SoupFlower).

Ultimately, after a month of debate and a final eight hour session locked in a room with a whiteboard, the Company was re-christened Servinity.  Rather than using our name to tell what we do (jobs, scheduling, networking), or for whom we do it (the service industry), “Servinity” is how they will feel. 

Our goal has always been to bring order to the chaos of staffing in this industry, and by doing so, hopefully bring some peace of mind to the harried managers fighting this battle.  Servinity is a play on the words “service,” “serenity” and “divinity.”  After that final eight hour session, we needed some serenity.  And this is the name which provided it.  Plus, it sounds cool.

The final decision was made after someone suggested we could one day produce a commerical with Jerry Stiller reprising his role as Frank Costanza (George’s dad) from Seinfeld.  He would play a frantic restaurant manager, struggling to deal with the myriad staffing issues which had just befallen him.  Fans of the show know what comes next.  Stiller would look to the sky, throw his arms up in despair, and shout “Servinity Now!“ 

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