Alfredo Pinochet
President — LatinTLD, Inc.
Twitter: @LatinTLD
Dirk Krischenowski
Founder and CEO — dotBERLIN GmbH & Co. KG
Twitter: @dotberlin | Facebook: /dotBERLIN
FAST FACTS
Session Name: geoTLDs panel
Location:
Dirk — Berlin, Germany
Domain name you wish you owned:
Alfredo — Santiago related geos ending in “.com”
Dirk — dirk.krischenowski
Favourite extension:
Alfredo — .com, .ai, .club
Dirk — .brlin
Now watching:
Alfredo — Grace and Frankie
Dirk — Bladerunner 2049
Now reading:
Alfredo — The Economist
Dirk — Jens Corrsen’s The Self-Developer (in German)
Best city for a conference:
Alfredo — A city one can reach with a non-stop flight!
Dirk — Berlin
Mentor:
Dirk — Nowadays, myself.
Q&A
Describe your company and how long you have been there.
Alfredo — LatinTLD was founded in 2007. I have been related to it since its inception.
Dirk — In 1999 I invented the concept of Internet domain extensions as digital identity and place branding tool for cities. In 2005 I founded dotBERLIN GmbH & Co. KG and launched .berlin as first city Internet domain extension worldwide in 2014 (www.dot.berlin). Until today more than 40 global cities followed our example with extensions like .nyc, .london or .tokyo. dotBERLIN is still the spin-doctor of the development of digital identities for cities, which are nowadays even more important in the light of digitalization and smart cities.
What can attendees look forward to during your session?
Alfredo — Know more about Latin American domain name registration.
Dirk — Being engaged in a controversial discussion about the still newish geoTLDs in the environment of incumbent gTLDs and ccTLDs.
What can attendees do in order to prepare for your session? Are there any questions or scenarios they should consider in advance?
Dirk — Attendees may ask themselves if they would use a domain name if their town/city/region would have one. And why they would do this.
What would you like attendees to learn or take away from your session?
Alfredo — That registering domains today in any Latin American ccTLD can be a great investment in the medium to long term!
Dirk — How geoTLD domain names deliver real value for customers and the place.
Can you tell us about how your service or product helps deliver value to your customers?
Alfredo — We bridge the cultural, language, timezone, currency and any other gap to allow our clients a trouble free registration of Latin American domain names.
Dirk — Our customer are mainly saying they register .berlin domain name for being associated with the City of Berlin, its values and its identity. That’s the best value you can get.
What are your thoughts on the new TLDs?
Alfredo — All the better if they are geo newTLDs, as well as if they fit a category not covered by the traditional gTLDs (e.g.: .club (it’s not a “.com”, neither is it an “.org”), .wang (last name), .audi (brand), .golf (sport), etc.).
Dirk — The best thing ever happened for the DNS.
What are you most looking forward to at the upcoming NamesCon?
Alfredo — Meeting new people!
Dirk — Exchanging and networking.
What advice can you offer those who are just getting their start in the domain or related industry?
Alfredo — To look beyond the obvious TLDs for investment opportunities.
Dirk — Prepare for change!
How would you describe what you do in a single sentence to a stranger?
Alfredo — I manage Latin American domain name portfolios for my clients.
Dirk — Giving places their digital identity.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
Alfredo — Only death has no solution.
Dirk — dirk.krischenowski
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