I‘m sitting here at Dulles Airport waiting for my flight to Zurich and the annual World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos, so I thought I’d dash off a quick blog. If you’re on the ball, you will realize that by arriving tomorrow, I will be missing most of the first day of the meeting. This is intentional – I’m doing Davos on a budget (which is why I am also flying on frequent flier miles – but more of that later in the week possibly. In the meantime, I’m crossing my fingers that they don’t place me in the dreaded toilet seat!).
In preparation, I’ve spent the day pulling my talking points together. I’m supposed to be speaking at four events, in addition to sampling the delights of the rest of the meeting.
To kick off, I’m talking about science and technology breakthroughs at a dinner hosted by Jason Pontin – Editor in Chief of Technology Review. With my usual impeccable timing, this is in the evening of the day I arrive, so it’s touch and go whether I will actually be awake and coherent when speaking. Always a sucker for cheap theatrics, this is where I will be using a just-purchased pair of faux sheepskin mittens for visual impact (at least that’s the intention, as long as I can get them on. A last minute purchase, I had to settle for a rather narrow pair of woman’s mitts).
Thursday I’m talking emerging technologies and climate change management/mitigation with a bunch of industry leaders. Again it’s a dinner event, so the chances of me eating a square meal that evening are slim. The main aim here is to finish in time to hear James Cameron talking about Avatar later that evening.
Friday I’m pitching an idea for a new global center on emerging technologies intelligence, as part of the Davos IdeasLab series. Should be interesting – I have five minutes to pitch the idea to a group of folk, against a backdrop of five text-less timed Powerpoint slides. It’s a bit like a sudden death presentation…
Saturday I’m a free agent – unless someone finds out, in which case I could well find myself dragged into something at the last minute.
Sunday I join what looks like scores of presenters in a large brainstorming session on the “Global Agenda 2010” – not sure what to expect here.
Then it’s party time, before heading back next Monday – again hoping that I avoid that seat especially reserved for frequent flier users and other undesirables.
That’s it for now. See you on the other side of the Atlantic.