It would be useless to even try to begin to describe the emotion of receiving honorary citizenship of the city of Meda: I could never do it.
So I’ll go one step further, to try to explain why – alongside me – I feel that all of you have also become “of Meda”.
All of you who are clients of the company which I have the honour of managing, founded by my father Fioravante and my uncle Giorgio in 1974.
All of you who, as suppliers, compete every day to take care of the high-quality supply chain which is behind each of our Design dei Sogni projects, for tailored comfort in the homes of the client who choose the BertO brand over the many others on the market.
All of you internal partners of the Company, who, in various roles and positions within BertO, work every day from the early morning to the late evening to keep that promise of quality which is inherent in “Made in Meda” and in its millennium of manufacturing excellence.
Being an honorary citizen of a city like Meda is something which has no equal anywhere in the world.
I think that the people who founded this company, and who continue to inspire us thanks to the spirit they have passed on to us, would be proud of the recognition which has arrived – almost by fate – on the day which marks the birthday of the city of Meda: 10th December.
Meda was in fact founded on 10th December 1252, and yesterday, 10th December 2021, it turned 769 years old.
And yesterday, 10th December 2021, I received a parchment with my name on it.
It is a recognition of the work which I have been able to carry out thanks to the region and the excellence it has always represented (for a thousand years, as the subtitle of this book states).
After all, even the words which the city – in the person of the mayor Luca Santambrogio – chose when granting me this incredible honor, speak of work, work and more work.
I am deeply grateful, in a way which I will never be able to express, including for the official act using words like these which I report below (words which – although they came to me written on parchment – have been indelibly engraved into my heart):
The City of Meda,
as a sign of gratitude for his ability to combine digital innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit of the “wood-furniture” sector;
in particular, for his unique intuition in digitising the dissemination, promotion and sale of “Made in Meda” furniture becoming a Google case study;
for the involvement of his business in social, editorial and charitable works;
confers
honorary citizenship
to Filippo Berto
As you can see, we are talking about all of you who – as customers, suppliers, partners – have allowed concepts like the ones mentioned in this award to become concrete work, at the service of a “Made in Meda” excellence which many, before us, have made famous around the world.
My thanks therefore go to the mayor of Meda, whom I owe a very special gratitude for his attention to my and our work, to everyone, absolutely everyone, who has been close to me and who will continue to be so with priceless dedication, in carrying on our work as Meda deserves: according to the highest-ever standards, at the service of the best customers in the world.
I don’t know what else to add, except… the relief that I can write these words and I don’t have to say them out loud: the lump in my throat would prevent me from making any sound!
(The winners: Avis Meda, Meda Civil Protection, Giuseppe Besana Onlus Foundation, Briantea84 ASD, Eugenio Boga, Silvano Desideri, Raffaella Masciadri and Filippo Berto).
I wrote a book about my city, it’s called Made in Meda: the future of design is already a thousand years old. ==> If you want to find out more, click here!