#HOTCS: Claudia Seeber, Berlin

“If Canadian companies are looking to enter the German market, they should expect very direct answers from their German business partners. They shouldn’t be offended or anything, it’s just the way people do business here. Germany has a very straightforward business culture. If a deal works or it doesn’t, you don’t need to wait for an answer for very long. It’s either a yes or a no. It saves time, and you can just move on to another potential partner if they say they’re not interested.

“I have an invigorated mandate to connect Canadian companies in the cultural industries to businesses in Germany. We recently brought two Canadian business delegations to the Reeperbahn festival in Hamburg, where more than 30 bands were being showcased and Canada was the focus country. I think we had a delegation of about 40 Canadian companies from the publishing industry, as well as from music labels and management companies.