Davos Newbies

Swiss folklore musicians blow the alphorn during the oppening session of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in the congress center in Davos, January 28.

Securty check at the entrance of the congress center in Davos January 28, where the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting takes place. Even Newt Gingrich former speaker of the US House of Representatives is beeing checked by a securty guard.

A snow covered police officer stand guard in front of the congress center in Davos Jannuary 28, where the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting takes place through February 2.

Participants of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting can meet other policymakers and corporate chieftains in a private atmosphere in several lounges in the Davos congress center.

Securty check at the entrance of the congress center in Davos, January 28, where the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting takes place. Every participant of the Meeting has to be checked by security guards and electronic systems.

South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela shows a painting, which he had received from Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum, as a remembrance of Davos.

I asked some of my London World Link colleagues for top tips for Davos first-timers. Here are the results.

Relax and enjoy it. Davos can be pretty hectic, so make sure you leave time for chance encounters and serendipity. Some people even carve out time for skiing — there’s great Alpine and cross-country skiing in Davos. About five years ago, I took advantage of Sunday morning “sports day” to go skiing and got caught in a blizzard. I spent the whole morning sharing hot chocolates and some strudel in a snowed-in mountaintop restaurant with John Sculley and his brother Arthur. A not atypical Davos moment.

Spend some time on arrival figuring out the layout of the Congress Centre and the town (note to Dave Winer: I’ll try on Monday to find some better maps to post on the site). The Congress Centre works quite well, but it is a maze since they plugged a new building onto an old one when Davos started to outgrow its origins. All of the lunch and dinner sessions are in hotels, so it helps to know which direction to head for those sessions.

Finally, Olga had the simplest suggestion. “Just be there.”

And where is there? I had to include this: