What’s In A Name?

On September 24, 2011, in San Diego, at the opening session of the 2011 Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, the annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association, ADA President Sylvia Escott-Stump announced that as of January 2012 The American Dietetic Association will change its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The announcement came as a surprise to those in the audience and to most of the thousands of Registered Dietitians in this country who are members of the ADA (soon to be AND?).

Dietitian social media pages on sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter have been buzzing with comments and reaction to the name change of the governing body of the RD profession. Some are in support of the measure, especially because of the addition of the word “nutrition,” but others are questioning how much of the resources of the ADA will be going towards the rebranding. The American Dietetic Association oversees 80,000 Registered Dietitians and it is already known, and branded, as the definitive expert on food and nutrition in America today.

Despite the debate that remains, the fact is that soon, every dietitian in America will soon be looking to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as the leading organization in their profession.

A name is a very important thing, and changing it is a big deal. Of the billions of dollars spent on marketing in this country most of all that activity is geared towards promoting and defining a brand, or, a name.

At Dietitians On Demand, we’re proud of our name because it describes who we are and what we do. We are an organization entirely focused on providing Registered Dietitians to perform contract labor for clients who are in need of their services. Whether it’s covering for a maternity leave at an acute care hospital, a PRN backup role at a LTC facility, or providing any other type of nutrition service, if you have the demand for a dietitian, chances are we have one for you. We are Dietitians On Demand, we’re proud of our name, proud of the brand we are developing, and we’re going to keep it that way.