Well, I’ve survived my first “Davos” and lived to tell the tale. I feel I should write about how profoundly important and influential these meetings are (and without a doubt, they are). But it’s two o’clock in the morning, and I wanted to wrap up this blog series with a minimum of effort before hitting the sack. So instead, here’s a quick overview of how “my Davos” went (as the phrase goes):
Anticipation: Without a doubt, this was the most anticipated meeting of the last few years for me. The WEF Annual Meeting at Davos is the stuff of myth – the place where you can rub shoulders with the likes of Bono and Angelina Jolie, where political sparring partners hash out deals, where you can find yourself chatting to presidents and prime ministers – and not know it ’till half way through the conversation, and where chance encounters in the gents can lead to new deals. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a little excited to have been invited.
Confusion: All first-timers said the same thing to me when asked – working out what’s going on and where is a monumental task when you get here. It’s not that WEF runs a poor show – quite the contrary, this meeting runs with Swiss precision. But the combination of geography, snow, security, and multiple meeting tracks – not all of them publicized – is a little overwhelming. I commented to a colleague in WEF on the third day here that I constantly had the feeling that there was a party going on somewhere I hadn’t been invited to. he responded that there are probably at least five parties, not just one – that’s what it’s like until you begin to find your feet.
Cynicism: By the second day, I was beginning to wonder whether there was anything more to this meeting than bagging names to drop, finding backers for business deals, and partying. In all the apparent confusion and chaos, it was hard to see anything of worth going on. The WEF tag line is “Committed to improving the state of the world.” They certainly seemed committed to meetings – lots of them. But was there any real substance here?
Admiration. As I began to get the measure of the meeting though, it’s true worth began to shine through. There are a lot of intangibles here – benefits that are very real, but hard to quantify. It slowly began to dawn on me that there’s a lot less hot air here than it at first seemed. Davos creates something of a safe environment where people can relax and get down to business without being burdened by too much posturing. It’s also a great leveler. The assumption is that everyone here has something of value to bring to the meeting, and so is worth talking to. A number of times I found myself talking to seemingly ordinary people, just to discover how extraordinary they were. Not just the prominent public figures either – this place is teeming with smart, inspirational people most readers probably wouldn’t know from Adam. And everyone is eager to talk – I’ve never been to a more sociable meeting. Sit down anywhere and the chances are that the person next to you will introduce themselves and strike up a conversation. I thought at first it was because people were desperate to network. But it’s more than that – somehow, Davos seems to remove the inhibition that usually stops complete strangers from talking about anything and everything under the sun. When you get used to it, it’s incredibly invigorating.
Awe. And finally, I ended the meeting on a note of something approaching awe. In amongst the business and political leaders at Davos, WEF – under the direction of the organization’s Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab – brings in a huge variety of other people. The key here is that people are invited to the meeting who have the potential to make a difference, whether they are thought-leaders, activists, social entrepreneurs, whatever. The bar for admission isn’t who you are, but what you can do. This makes for an incredibly rich and diverse group of people. But on top of this, the meeting celebrates potential, not status. And to see this, you just need to look at the closing session of the meeting this year. At the end of a meeting attended by some of the world’s most influential leaders, who did Klaus Schwab choose close with? Six young “Global Change Makers” – each under 20 (the youngest was 16), and committed to making social change happen. This is the point I think that I realized how special this meeting is. In one of the most prominent sessions of the meeting, Klaus invited these six kids to talk about how they see the world, and how their outlook can inspire others to rethink and rediscover their values. I was genuinely moved – not something that usually happens to me at events like this! More than anything else, this closing session demonstrated that Davos is not about celebrities or power mongers or networking or having fun – it’s about inspiring people to change the world for the better.
Of course, there’s a lot that’s frustrating about the meeting as well – it isn’t perfect by a long way. But its potential to enable things to happen is real, and it is unique.
So all in all a very worth while trip. I just need to start working on my invitation for next year now!
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For more information on the “Global Change Makers” check out their web page, and their YouTube channel. The closing session at Davos featuring them can be seen here – but you need to fast forward past the first 60 minutes of the video. I’d encourage you to do it though – these kids are inspiring. I should add a warning that the session included the Archbishop of Cantebury, who tended to get a little preachy at times. But don’t let that deter you.
This closing session is actually good. I only randomly clicked on 50th minute, and listened for 10 mins but found the discussions stimulating and very interesting indeed. (See Andrew not realising he is on camera at 54 mins!!) I think I will listen to it all, not just the kids, thanks Andrew! Glad you had fun!
Oops – included the wrong link there somehow! (The link originally included above was the Global Agendas Council brainstorm – watchable here: http://wef2010.unitec-media.tv/20100131/30297_ORG_gb.html )
The link above should now correctly point to the final session
Catching up with your Davos posts in reverse order, and just watched the final session with the young guys and Rowan Williams.
A lot of this has of course been said before, but to have all the key issues around humanity, sustainability, economics, leadership and the nature /role of god (no less!) captured in 50 mins from such a young but united cross-section is fantastic.
Plenty here in line with my own principles (shared with Bertie Russell) around (a) be rational, (b) be tolerant, (c) be kind. I resonate most with the curly-haired guy in the middle seat – on two points especially:
“ideals into actions”
“collective humanity is transcendental”
Meaning that agreeing ideals, whether they are academic, human, god-given, etc is just words. And the point on leaders leading comes in here. Leaders need the courage to make the environment supportive of bottom-up action (also mentioned).
On the second point, I got the impression most of the speakers were not theist (there are times when I don’t think Rowan is). But it’s worrying if the human race is floating between blind belief and nihilism at a time when some universal guiding principles would come in handy. I can never see these coming from the sort of Rowan Williams’s unknowable transcendent force, but have huge hope and sympathy for the younger speaker’s appeal for humanity reaching a collective state beyond where we’ve been, but without a gospel-style god involves. Or have I watched too much Star Trek.
Davos sounds like a great bash. I’ve at various times been involved in truly international meetings (not as grand as Davos of course 🙂 ) , and the same thought ALWAYS struck me each time: If only everyone else could come along too; there would be no wars, etc etc.
Two specific questions btw:
– Is there a specific activity within the Davos proceedings to examine and suggest ways, structures, tools to help ideals turn to reality through actions – apart from the expectation that all these ‘doers’ will make it happen anyhow. Or is the best practice exchange happening over cocktails (not knocking that)?
– On the science and tech front, did anything in particular grab you as to areas where Davos has,is,can make a unique contribution?
(if these covered in your other posts, ignore)
Anyhow, too much to go at here. Off to watch the other vids.