The German American Chamber of Commerce in New York helped us in a professional way to broaden the outreach of the .berlin community by establishing contacts to towns and cities with the name Berlin in the United States.
The incorporation of towns and cities named Berlin is important to us since they have the same rights to the name Berlin as those in the German capital. Additionally their businesses, organizations and individuals will be the 2nd biggest market for .berlin domain names outside Germany.
Today I had a meeting with Jeff Schulz, the town administrator of Berlin, Vermont.
The close to 3,000 inhabitants counting town of Berlin is situated in the heart of Vermont, close to Montpelier and Barre, but also to a place called West Berlin. Berlin’s transportation infrastructure includes the Edward F. Knapp State Airport, there’s the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Industry located in Berlin, and a lot of other businesses which make Berlin a regional economic center.
Jeff and I discussed various issues around .berlin including what .berlin can mean in terms of place branding, economic development and finding a unique destination proposition but also giving Berlin based or associated businesses an individual identity on the net.
After a warm welcome in Berlin and the good meeting with Jeff I am looking forward to continue the dialog with the Berliners in Vermont in order to get them on board for the .berlin initiative and help them to profit from the advantages .berlin will have for the Berliners in Vermont.
