Companies have extraordinary annual general meetings when major events like mergers dictate. But is the World Economic Forum right to be calling an Extraordinary Annual Meeting in Jordan in June? There is certainly no lack of material to discuss, but what are the prospects that the right group of people can be assembled not that many months after Davos?
I understand King Abdullah, who has long been a good friend of Davos, is working hard to encourage major public figures to come. Still, it won’t be easy. And I shudder to think of how difficult the meeting will be logistically. Apparently a huge tent is going to be purpose-built for the event.
I admire the ambition behind the event and I wish it well (unlike this kind of wild speculation). But I’m feeling rather Cassandra-like about its prospects.
The World as a Blog is fascinating. Lovely idea.
I’ve just come back from three fairly incognito days in Geneva, chairing a few sessions at an investment conference. The undoubted highlight, however, was going to the opening performance of Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia last night at the Grand Théâtre.
The production, which was originally staged at Brussel’s La Monnaie opera house, was one of the cleverest, funniest stagings I have ever seen. The cast was excellent, particularly Dale Duesing as the poet. His role required him to play the continuo parts for the recitatives, as well as sing and be the comic architect of the whole evening. Extraordinary. And I’ve never seen a curtain call where the producers, Karl-Ernst and Ursel Hermann, insisted on the entire technical crew coming out from behind stage.
In the unlikely case that any Davos Newbies reader is also an opera buff and can get to Geneva in the next couple of weeks, I’d suggest begging, borrowing or stealing for a ticket.