John Berard
Country: | USA |
Email: | john [at] crediblecontext.com |
LinkedIn: | [crediblecontext John Berard] |
John Berard is a member of the ICANN Business Constituency and the founder, and sole proprietor, of Credible Context.[1]
His company, Credible Context, seeks to help companies reveal their context and power market-making messaging. The result is the ability to identify, align, arm and activate supporters.
Most recently he was the CEO of Rabio Corporation. A start-up based on the notion that privacy can be a meaningful business model.
He worked for almost five years at Zeno Group, a company specializes in marketing consumer, healthcare and technology brands with big, bold thinking that's unencumbered by traditional PR boundaries.
Prior to joining Zeno Group, Berard was the San Francisco-based General Manager, West Coast Operations for FitzGerald Communications, a technology and biotechnology-focused public relations agency with its headquarters in Boston . [2]
Earlier in his career, John was the general manager of the Fleishman-Hillard office in San Francisco (from 1996-to-1999) and deputy director of that firm's technology practice. In those posts, he counseled a wide range of public affairs, technology and corporate clients.
Before moving to San Francisco in 1996, he served as director of Hill & Knowlton/ New York 's technology team and a member of the office of the chairman. In that capacity he was the firm's spokesperson on matters related to its work on behalf of clients as well as the relationship manager for one of the firm's largest, global accounts.
It is equally important to be a part of the discussion of industry issues, too. In 2010, he was elected to the policy-setting General Names Supporting Organization Council inside ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. He is a member of the Business Constituency of that organization.
In 1997, he was a founding member of the board of TRUSTe, the online privacy rights group. He served on the board until the end of 2004. More recently, John was a member of the board of the IAPP, the International Association of Privacy Professionals. He remains a member of the organization for corporate and governmental professionals engaged in privacy.[3]
He participates in different meeting and events ogranized by the ICT sectors and ogranizations. He writes regularly in CicleID [4] and his company's website, Credible Context[5], about ICT and PR related topics.
He is a graduate of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey with a degree in Human Communication.
Civic Engagement
He has than 30-year career has been forged in three corporate cities of America. He began in the financial and corporate communications landscape of New York City, then spent 15 years in the legal and issues-driven Washington, D.C. and since 1996 have been based in San Francisco supporting the marketing, primarily, of technology companies.
John practices one essential aspect of counsel he promotes to clients: It is important to be a participant in the communities you serve. He has served as a member of the board of the D.C. Hotline, the Washington, D.C. crisis counseling service and as a communications advisor to the National Capital Food Bank, also in Washington, D.C.
He was a communications adviser to the San Francisco Food Bank for four years before serving two terms on the board, where he was part of the effort to help develop a “consumer” brand to elevate public awareness and provide a stronger profile for giving. He is currently a member of the board of The Market Street Railway, the private support organization for historic street cars in San Francisco.
Career History
- Director of Public Affairs at Associated General Contractors of America, 1980-1983
- Deputy General Manager at Hill & Knowlton, 1986-1996.
- General Managerat Fleishman-Hillard, May 1996-April 1999.
- General Manager, West Coast Operations at FitzGerald Communications, May 1999-March 2003.
- Managing Director and Senior Consultant at Zeno Group, April2003-June 2007.
- Board Member at International Association of Privacy Professionals, 2003-2008.
- CEO at Rabio Corporation, July 1007-April 2009.
- Founder at Credible Context (Sole Proprietorship), May 2009-present.
- Member at ICANN Business Constituency, June 2010-Present.