Our chat room has the default name of academia. Some sites have come up with creative names for their chat rooms. It was suggested that we rename our chat room.
Should we rename our chat room and if so to what?
UPDATE the chat room has been renamed. We can change it again whenever we want, so keep proposing names and keep voting for the ones you like.
I propose The Ivory Tower, as this is the place where academics of all sorts clichéically and metaphorically live.
As much of academia (profs, TAs) has them (or uses them in the case of undergrads), another option might be 'Office Hours.'
What about the common room?
Exist[s] to provide representation in the organisation of college or residential hall life, to operate certain services within these institutions [...], and to provide opportunities for socialising.
Seems to cover it to me. Every UK university I tried Googling used it (or a derivative such as JCR, MCR and/or SCR) in some form, most in the above sense (Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Exeter, Kent, Lancaster, Leicester, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, St Andrews, Southampton, York, UCL, Birmingham, Hull), some as the name of a physical social space (Imperial) or events facility (Cardiff). Some universities have named their online student communities or e-learning sites after it (Manchester).
It is also used in the US, although less common. Where used it seems to carry similar connotations, for instance the stated purpose of MIT's recently opened Quantum Information Science (QIS) Common Room is as a
venue for impromptu technical discussions and [...] social events
(link).
My only concern is that it might be biased towards the UK and other English-speaking countries.
If we're leaning a little more towards a research theme we could go with The Lab.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to get your homeworks graded today, I was up late working in the lab.
I propose... ehm, cough cough... The procrastinators' den.
Let's go all Oxbridge and make it a Senior Common Room....
To throw another suggestion into the den:
The social event typically¹ refers to the excursion or similar at conferences, where attendees can talk about things other than the topic of the conference.
¹ at least in the my fields
I propose The Quad as they are often a popular hangout on university campuses.
Academia Secrets, since people in the room seem to provide each other the scoop on things occurring at their respective institutions.
