Newsletter February 2011

Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), the official German foreign trade and inward investment agency, and the German Chambers of Commerce in North America (USA and  Canada) with a total of 10 locations have joined forces by launching a news portal www.transatlantic-news.com.

This website aggregates news from a wide variety of different sources - i.e. websites, newsletters, blogs and trade publications dealing with trade relations between Germany and North America. GTAI’s 4 local market observers send daily reports back to Germany on market trends and movements.  Transatlantic-news.com will now offer direct access to these insightful economic reports as well as data collected by the German Chambers in the US and Canada.

This new info portal will also feature articles by other important organizations involved in German-North American relations, including AmCham, the North American Goethe Institutes, the German Embassy, Deutsche Welle and the German Center for Research & Innovation in New York. Contributing organizations will continually be added over the next few months. Transatlantic News will be your one-stop site for business updates.

The German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. together with its member Littler Mendelson, P.C. invites you to an evening seminar on

Defensive Writing Skills: Email and Social Networking

Each day we communicate via email in order to keep our business running, to communicate with customers, and to share information with business partners, colleagues, or just friends. Social media tools have become a substantial part of our daily communication form on a corporate as well as private level. To write an email seems rather easy: write – click - send – click – done. Nevertheless, there are many risks for business when emailing and using social networking tools. During this business seminar, we want to explore those common mistakes and areas of potential legal liability and hopefully learn how to avoid them. Come and gain the following insights:

• How to avoid legal risk when using email or social networking tools;
• How to approach different business partners, customers, or colleagues;
• How to communicate directly and clearly without sounding offensive.

Join us at
Littler Mendelson
900 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
6.00 – 8.00pm

Free admission for members!
Non-members: $ 35

Space is limited! To RSVP, please contact Anne Wittig at awittig@gaccny.com or (212) 974-8837.

Early-Bird Pricing until March 20, 2011

From May 12 - 13, 2011, the German American Chambers of Commerce (GACC) and the German Energy Agency (dena GmbH) will be hosting the 3rd German American Energy (GAE) Conference in Berlin, Germany entitled “Global Energy Challenges – Transatlantic Business Opportunities”. We are pleased to announce that Mr. Rainer Brüderle, Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, and Mr. Philip D. Murphy, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, have accepted our invitation to speak at this year’s conference.

The two-day conference is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) as part of the Export Initiatives Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Additionally, the conference is supported by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Federation of German Industries (BDI), and Germany Trade and Invest (gtai). Conference partners include the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar), the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), the German BioEnergy Association (BBE), the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), the Council of American States in Europe (CASE), the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association and the German Association of Consulting Engineers (VBI).

>>> Register at www.gae-conference.com by March 20, 2011 to receive an Early-Bird special for only 795 Euro plus VAT 19% (app. $1,075). Members of the GACCs as well as of our partner organizations are eligible for a discount of 100 Euro (app. $135.00).

DKB has its head office in Berlin, Germany, and was founded in 1990. Over the past few years, the bank has been able to achieve particularly strong growth as a direct bank for private clients. Today, more than two million private clients take advantage of its range of accounts and financing options. Most notably, these include DKB-Cash, which has won several awards, private loans and real estate finance. DKB-Cash is held in high esteem, particularly among people who travel a great deal or who work abroad, as it provides the opportunity to withdraw money anywhere in the world for free thanks to the DKB-VISA-Card.
The bank has already received several awards for its customer service and for being a top employer.

>>> For more information, please click here.

The German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, in cooperation with Deutsche Messe, would like to invite you to HANNOVER MESSE 2011 - the world's leading showcase for industrial technology.

We have put together an extensive participation package to make your stay as profitable as possible.
Deutsche Messe will provide you with a Premium Pass Gold which will entitle you to:

• Participate in Invitation Only Opening Ceremony including Chancellor Merkel from Germany and President Sarkozy from France
• Participate in VIP Invitation Only Opening Ceremony dinner reception
• Free admission to the entire HANNOVER MESSE fair grounds
• "Fast Lane" admission
• Free transportation with all GVH busses / trams and trains (2nd class) in the Greater Hannover Region (www.gvh.de)

>>> For more information, please click here or contact Jayne Riemer-Chishty at +1 (312) 494 - 2169 or at riemer-chishty@gaccom.org

 

Risk is in the Eye of the Beholder.

Put yourself in your thirteen-year-old mind. Did you think about the repercussions of every action or did you just do it, assuming that nothing bad would happen and if something did, you’d be able to figure out a solution? Chances are it’s the latter.

Welcome to the American way of risk-taking. It’s not that we see risk and are immediately attracted.  We see the potential positive outcome and assume there’s a good chance we can make it happen. Therefore, we don’t really classify it as a risk in the same way our German counterparts might. If it doesn’t work out, it is disappointing but at least we tried and we now have those experiences to support our future endeavors. There’s always a positive spin. [...]

 

>>> Continue reading How We Sink, our new intercultural series and blog.

METPACK, the International Trade Fair for Metal Packaging, will take place from May 10 - 14, 2011 at Messe Essen. A comprehensive overview of the market for innovations in the sector will once again await the exhibitors and the visitors. The manufacturers will present their products, machines, equipment, accessories and services for manufacturing and processing in the metal packaging industry.

For the first time, Halls 1 and 3 will be reserved for METPACK. The additional entrance in Hall 1 and two connections between both halls will lead to a more flowing exhibition. Visitors will be able to register for the fair and the conference at both entrances.

Pioneering developments will once again be honored with the internationally significant METPACK Innovation Award in 2011. A jury with high-ranking members will assess the products and processes registered by exhibitors at METPACK. New technologies will be the focus of attention at the METPACK Conference where renowned experts from all over the world will pass on their expertise.

For more information, please contact Karen Vogelsang at karen@essentradeshows.com.