Welcome to the blist corporate blog. While we get the question less often now that we’ve changed the way we print our name to all lower case letters, one of the questions we get from time to time is how to pronounce our name. Is it “B List” as in the A-list vs. the B-list? Or is it blist, as in rhymes with twist? It’s the latter.

Our name parallels the word blog, which you know is a portmanteau (spork = spoon + fork) for web log. blist is a portmanteau for web list. Say it fast a few times. Web list. Web list. Web list… blist. We aren’t creating yet another simple list editor. There’s much more to it than that, but what we’re developing is so easy to use, it’s as easy as building a web blist. Ease of use is so important we wanted to pick a name for our company that emphasized how easy it is. If you can make a list, you can make a blist.

Over the past few months I’ve been interviewing folks for various marketing roles. Through our name I’ve learned that marketers opinions blow in the wind. When I first meet a marketer, I’ll usually introduce myself “Hi, I’m Kevin Merritt from blist.” They’ll respond. “Oh, it’s blist, not B-list? We’re going to have change the company name right away, before it sticks.” Then I’ll spend my typical introductory hour describing what we’re building and by the end of the discussion they’ll take a 180 on the company name. “Actually, I love it. It really fits.”

Like blog, we use it as both noun and verb:

• - Did you see Kevin’s wine blist?
• - Hey, why don’t we just blist this so everyone can share it?

It’s blist. Got a list? Make a blist.