Bring on the handicrafts and mulled wine…it’s Christmas market time in cities across Europe. We’ve put together a long list of travel-worthy Christmas Markets that you can find here. But everyone knows about the popular markets in Germany, France and the UK. That’s why we decided to count down 12 days of alternative Christmas events.

1. Santa Claus World Championship (Samnaun, Switzerland)

Flocks of 32 teams of cherry-cheeked ol’ Saint Nicks compete in a series of Santa-approved events. Expect some spirited porridge eating, energetic reindeer and sled racing, and a stint of chimney climbing that will have you on the edge of your seats. read more

2. Amiens Christmas Market (Amiens, France)

Of all of the Christmas markets in France, Amiens has the most delectable selections of tasty sweets with the Beauvais chocolate tuiles topping the list.  Once your belly is content you should begin stocking up on crystal glass, weavings, soaps and other beauty products, as well as locally made Angora sweaters. read more

3. Skansen Christmas Market (Stockholm, Sweden)

Get your lutfisk fix at the Skansen Christmas Market, where old-fashioned Sweden is reinvented for the delight of locals and visitors. In addition to the salty white fish marinated in lye, there’s also glögg, the traditional Swedish Christmas drink, gingerbread, reindeer sausage and plenty of music and dancing. read more

4. Christmas Eve Vigil (Rome, Italy

No matter your religious beliefs, the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in St. Peter’s Square is a humbling and inspiring experience. The Pope’s Christmas Eve sermon is broadcast worldwide to over 40 nations. read more

5. Gubbio Christmas Tree (Gubbio, Italy)

Fancy seeing the largest Christmas “tree” in the world? Head to Gubbio, a town in the Umbria region of Italy, where an entirely electric tree glows so brightly you can see it from neighboring counties.  read more

6. Krakow Nativity Scene Competition (Krakow, Poland)

Krakow’s famous ’szopka’ Nativity Scenes replace the traditional Bethlehem stable with ornate structures inspired by Krakow’s architectural marvels. The szopkas from a few centimeters to mammoths stretching over 2 meters high. You’re sure to be amazed by the intricacy and scale of these Christmas masterpieces. read more

7. Christmas Beer Festival (Essen, Belgium)

For two days, visitors can taste more than 100 Belgian Christmas and winter beers. Expect  more than 100 different bottled beers to taste, and 12 or 16 on draft.  read more

8. Ritual of the Faglia (Oratino, Italy)

A pagan wintertime fertility rite still burns under the guise of Christianity when the Italian town lights the ten meter tall faglia, a giant flaming torch made from sugar cane. The townspeople have spent all autumn collecting, stealing and hording sugar cane to make this flaming torch. read more

9. Velvet Cave Christmas Market (Valkenburg, Netherlands)

Visit the large subterranean Christmas Market in a charming little Dutch town full of ancient legends. The Velvet cave is where you’ll find unique gifts and a Winter Wonderland Tavern for mulled wine, old-fashioned Dutch mini pancakes and world-famous pea soup. read more

10. Santa Claus Christmas Village Market (Rovaneimi, Finland)

Rather than mailing your Christmas wish list to Santa, why not hand-deliver it to  his home? Located at the arctic circle, the place has a lot more to offer than unique nature, winter twilight and Northern Lights. read more

11. Budapest Christmas Market (Budapest, Hungary)

The Budapest market differs from most European holiday markets in that it strictly enforces a handcraft-only policy. That means you’ll likely be buying Transylvanian tapestries and handmade leather goods directly from the hands that made them. read more

12. Great Christmas Pudding Race (London, England)

The Great Christmas Pudding Race is a quirky event that raises money for Cancer Research. Teams wearing Santa outfits have to run around Covent Garden while trying to balance their Christmas pudding on a plate while avoiding 0bstacles such as balloons full of flour. read more

My first job coming out of university was in an industry I never knew existed: Naming. My company named everything from drugs (Viagra) to cars (Nissan Xterra) to computer chips (Intel Core Duo). It was a great job, but contrary to popular belief we did not spend our days lounging in hammocks spouting out random words that appeared in our stream of consciousness. The creative needed to be framed within a business strategy. The question I hated most was “Is _____ a good name?” How should I know…what’s the strategy?

This post was inspired by a comment I read on Twitter bashing some of the company names at the PhocusWright Travel Innovation Summit. It’s the same sort of stuff I heard when we unveiled the Joobili name and more recently when Tnooz launched. I decided to come up with 6 Rules of Naming using examples from the travel industry.

Rule 1: There’s no such thing as a perfect name

Imagine being in the room when someone suggested naming a new airline Virgin. Just the kind of airline I want to trust my life with, right. That someone happened to be Richard Branson but if it’s anyone else he is laughed out of the room. I challenge anyone to send me a brand name with no potential negative connotations, no spelling/pronunciation issues, no translation difficulties, no URL or trademark conflicts and no confusion with existing brands. Good luck.  Please keep Rule 1 in mind as you read through the rest of the rules.

Rule 2: Clarity or Flexibility- you can’t have both

All names fall somewhere on the spectrum of Concrete (British Airways) – Mildly Suggestive (Travelocity) – Strongly Suggestive (Expedia) – Abstract (Kukunu). As you move down the spectrum you experience the Clarity vs. Flexibility trade-off. Southwest airlines chose a concrete name that clearly positioned the company in the minds of consumers. Nowadays Southwest has expanded to cover the entire US and I’ve spoken with at least one Southwest exec. who wished for a name that wasn’t limited to one corner of the country. That said, the clarity of the name was surely an asset in the early days of the company. The right answer comes down to a question of short-term vs. long-term strategy.

Rule 3: Choose one message

I can’t count number of naming briefs I received requesting a name that communicated Trust, Innovation, and Easy-to-use. A name can communicate one message, and perhaps allude to one more- that’s it! Remember that your name will always appear in context; in a logo, on a website, on the product, etc. Pick one message and use your other communication channels and context to convey secondary messages.

Rule 4: How does the name make you feel?

There is a lot of research into unconscious emotions connected to specific sounds and morphemes (word parts). Having a high vowel ending like Joobili connotes fun. Hard endings like the ‘t’ in TripIt connote precision. Do a search on Sound Symbolism if you want to learn more. I recommend saying your name out loud a few times to make sure it fits with the company vibe you’re trying to create.

Rule 5: Get creative with the URL

Really you have no choice on this rule. Quick fact for you. Last I checked there are 500,000 words in the Oxford English dictionary and over 4 billion URLs indexed by Google. You do the math. Spelling is the unfortunate victim of the lack of short, .com available names. Jubilee became Joobili, T News became Tnooz, Glider became Gliider, Voyage became Voyij and the list goes on. My advice is to start with the name, then use the URL availability as a good filter to select among your favorites. Alternate spelling is just one work around. You can also look at modifiers like travel, trips, media, etc. or other top-level country-specific domains. I’ve also seen a few more .travel domains popping up.

Rule 6: Create a name people will hate

Consensus is the killer of creativity. Please, please, never choose a name based on the majority winner of a company-wide survey. If 10-15% of people hate your name I see that as a good thing. In the words of my old boss, “If nobody hates the name it is too familiar”. Do we really need more Trip+Noun names like TripAdvisor, TripIt, Tripbase, TripCase, TripWare… or are you better off creating a name that a few people will hate?