I was intrugued, and disturbed, by efforts to find a more enticing name than the Pioneer Valley that would attract tourism.

The Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council thinks a new name for the Pioneer Valley might attract more visitors to the region. The council hired a Nashville marketing company last year to study whether there might be a better name for the region. A decision is expected sometime next month.
For a time, the region has been marketed as the Knowledge Corridor, but that hasn't caught on beyond the boardroom. Branding is not a short-term process, so maybe it will catch on in a few years. Now some in the business community want to put forth another name.

(The article points out facts of which I was unaware: that the name "Pioneer Valley" is only sixty-some years old, and that it really refers to the counties in Western Massachusetts (minus Berkshire county)).

Why would they pick a name out of a hat? It would be nice if they found a name that better expressed the historical identity of the area--the mix of small towns and cities with rural life, the small colleges--things that are essentially "New England." Why not "Connecticut River Valley"? (It would probably confuse people who would think that it is part of Connecticut, but considering the fact that we in valley get as many resources from south as the east, why not?)

Here is a fun link to Berkshire Freedom Coalition, a groupt that wants a new state made of the land west of Quabbin. Someone at DU pointed it out to me when I was complaining about the effects of "The Big Dig" on the WMass economy and my feelings about John Kerry.