For a start, Crexia is a Social Media in HR Conference business. I started it as a Talent Search and Employer Brand venture back in 2008. Today, it has evolved into a Social HR events and content company. And the evolution is ongoing, as all businesses in the new economy.

So, what does Crexia mean? I’d provide some answers and insights below, and feel free to connect with the meaning that suits your imagination.

Corporate Branding

I registered the domain name crexia.com in 2004. Yes, back then I was messing around with domain names and thinking of what a future company might be called. I wanted something short, simple, smart – without an immediate meaning; something that doesn’t specifically say what a company does; a versatile name and that is potentially potent.

Family Reference

I didn’t quite think about this when it the domain was registered, but probably considered a strong personal element when I decided to set up a company in that name. My mum’s name is Christine Okezie, so when planning to take that leap into running a business, I went for Crexia – which could create the combo of Chri Zie = Crexia.

French Connection

The domain name was registered while I lived in France. Hence the logo has always had something ‘French’ about it. A lot of people have asked if the name is French, even during some client pitches in the past. The funniest reference to the logo and its identity was when I asked a UK creative chap what he thought about the logo, and he just gave one word: ‘Foreign’. Yes, I walked right into that one!

Sardinian Meaning

Something in 2009, I started doing some more research about the word Crexia, and behold, it does have some ancient meaning in Sardinian language, spoken in the Island of Sardinia, Italy. In its form, the word ‘crexia’ relates to ecclesia, chiesa, igresa, which all means ‘church’. In a way, this meaning becomes more interesting the last 2 years, as we now bring people together via meetings and forums to discuss topics, albeit subjects definetely NOT of religious nature.

Phillipino Nickname

Like I found out in 2010, Crexia is also a popular nickname in Phillipines, when I embarked on trying to claim the twitter handle @crexia – a story I documented last April, on How I Acquired a Twitter Username. That was an interesting revelation, but I never found out its meaning in Tagalog.

So, there you go – the reasons are out there, both intentional ones and ones I learned along the way. I will be interested to learn how others, esp small business owners choose a business name and set about to create a brand around it.

Using the name @crexia is something I haven’t particularly thought about in 2009, as I was heavily active via my personal account @vicokezie and also just acquired @socialrecruiter from a US Talent Acquisition Manager, who was kind enough to let go of that name, following a ‘combined’ advisory service he provided my other venture, www.socialrecruiter.co.uk

Crexia’s business shifted to events in 2010 with our debut Social Recruiting Conference. And back then, I knew we will be focusing on multiple conferences within Social Media, and hence set out to find out if it will ever be possible to have access to @crexia on twitter. According to Twitter, in order to claim back a username, you can either hold the trademark or submit a request. I didn’t have the former so I tried the later. I got a nice stardard email that explained how they release unused twitter usernames. I followed the process through, but nothing happened. It used to work before and these guys were successful. But for many people trying to acquire a username via twitter, they always hit a brick wall!

So I decided to track the person with the name and try to ask politely. By then, the username had no tweet and it was following 1 person (a tours company). However, the girl’s real name was in the bio area (I won’t reproduce it here – lets call her X) including her location. So, I did what anyone will do. Google it. I received lots of results of that name with various spellings. But the top ranked results where names from Facebook. I clicked on a few of them and wondered which was the real person. Anyway, I logged into FB, and did a search for that name (selected all) cos I figured that if someone with this name has a twitter account, they must surely be on FB. I got around 7 results within a FB search – 3 had photos and the other 4 didn’t. I sent messages to all – just a simple, “are you the owner of this twitter handle? I’d really appreciate if you give me access to the name if you are not using it … blah blah.” I got nothing back.

Then I recalled that I had worked with someone in Philipines in 2008 when I was starting out with Crexia’s recruitment efforts in Asia. I wanted someone to do lots of research and data entry and so hired a freelancer (Y) there over a period. I searched my box and found her email, so I sent her one out of the blue (March 2010) to explain if she can help in tracking/researching who X is, based in Philipines. Ok, I got a reply the next day and she suggested using FB too. Blimey!

Y now runs a small IT company after her MSc in Engineering and growing her business. So, she did same search and sent friends request to all of the 7. Alas, 3 or so accepted the request and somehow she managed to gather 2 email addresses. Then, she sent emails to those two addresses in English/Tagalog asking if they own the username and again blah blah. We heard nothing. That was March 2010.

I gave up, so was starting to contemplate using a @crexiauk or @crexiamedia or @crexialimited. I never got around to any and sort of was closing that chapter. Then in December 2010, while reading The Facebook Effect, I decided to friend 3 of the ones with the same real name (X) on FB. And also send messages about the username. A few days later, I got a response in broken English but quite apprehensive too. Basically, it states: yes its mine, and what do you want from me. So, we started a conversation. Some days it took 5 days to hear from her. I found out a lot more about her. She uses FB on her mobile and she was just over 20. Anyway, the discussion was going nowhere as she didn’t quite understand why someone from the UK was interested in a twitter username. Then I got Y involved again. Emailed to say our X was responding and can she speak with her to allay her fears etc and explain that a UK company called Crexia was interested in her username, for some strange reasons.

Long story short, Y sorted it all. She got to speak with X, arranged to sort the username transfer (I got the login details via a FB message) and she later hired her for a freelance project. And naturally, I compensated Y for her efforts and assistance. Username was mine by mid-March and everyone was happy. The experience thought me how one can be determined but also patient, in order to get to a destination. But more importantly, how our contacts (anywhere they might be in the world) can come in very handy when we need them.

And finally, how Facebook has brought the world closer. Now then, you can follow @crexia and next time I’d write about this very cool name. That should be interesting. Ciao!

For now, I am concentrating on developing Crexia as a Recruitment Media firm. Yes, we did Consulting a while back, but shifted focus to Online Recruitment, Employer Branding and Recruitment Media from 2010. This is something I find more exciting.

Also, I am more active on Social Recruiter these days, doing more of research on Social Recruiting across the globe and advocating how the trend will supplement employer’s Direct resourcing efforts.

You will see me online more on Twitter.