John Berard - Commercial and Business Users Constituency
5 December 2010
Updated 4 April 2011
I am the founder of a communications consultancy called Credible Context and based in San Francisco, CA, USA.
The firm is the culmination of a 35-year career in public relations at agencies large and small in New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. My clients are not defined by industry but by market need.
I specialize in marketing communications that helps companies renew, reshape and re-emerge in existing and adjacent markets. My practice is rooted in the notion that in a media environment that is immediate, ubiquitous and unforgiving, effective communications must be linked to who you are. That is the credible context.
In the past 12 months, as part of my broader portfolio of clients, I have worked with registrars (as part of my work with Momentous, parent company to multiple registrars and Pool.com), registries (Neustar) and globally branded consumer and business-to-business companies for whom the web is either an essential platform or represents their only commercial presence.
That is the current extent of my work, especially as it relates to ICANN, registries or registrars. I view myself, first-and-foremost, as a registrant and a business person.
Previous work has led me being asked to offer a deposition in the case of "Coalition for ICANN Transparency v. Verisign." In 2005 and 2006, I served as the spokesperson for the Coalition. I will update my SOI once this has concluded.
My small (less than 10 names) portfolio of domain names is registered through GoDaddy.com.
With regard to participation in communities other than ICANN, I am a member of the board of the Market Street Railway, the support organization for the vintage streetcars in San Francisco and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.