Davos (or the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, as it’s formally known) can be bewildering for first-time visitors. I’m going to try to use this website for the next month to help Davos newbies.
First, you should know that the Forum tries hard to offer a personalised service that, in my experience, has no equivalents elsewhere. If you know me, Lance Knobel, you can always ask for advice directly.
Otherwise, if you are coming to Davos for the Annual Meeting, there will be someone within the Forum who is responsible for looking after you. They will do whatever they can to provide information. If, in extremis, you send an email to contact@weforum.org, there really is someone who tries to reply swiftly.
One of the confusing aspects of Davos is that there are many Davoses. In addition to the Annual Meeting programme (the official programme which all participants can attend), there are Governors meetings (just for a select group of individual industry CEOs), special programmes for Global Leaders for Tomorrow (GLTs), Emerging Market Leaders and Tech Pioneers, and, of course, a host of private functions at cocktail hour. For media leaders there’s “Barbara’s Davos”, a distinct series of events organised by Barbara Erskine, director of communications at the Forum. So if you find that someone is talking excitedly about something that you didn’t even know was happening, don’t worry too much.
I’ll try to update daily with thoughts to help Davos newbies. You can always post specific queries in the discussion group.
I’m in!
I’m a Managing Editor for this site now. Thanks Lance.
I also just got a phone call from Dan Gillmor, he’s going to Davos too, so he’s going to use this site.
My first question — is there going to be a computer room, a place where I can update my site? It’s become commonplace at conferences, a big room with 100 web browser machines, used on a first-come-first-serve basis. At many shows this is the focal point, more important than the press lounge (most of the reporters gravitate to the browsers).
Also, will I have an opportunity to demo Manila on a formal basis? I will have a laptop with me for quickies in the hallway, but I’d love to do a 20 minute presentation, sort of a BOF thing.
I plan to bring a digital camera with me. Is it OK to take pictures?
Some conferences are off the record, like Stewart’s old Agenda, now run by Bob Metcalfe. Is there such a policy at Davos?
I guess overall I want to know how much I can report on from the conference and how much of a chance to evangelize I will have. All tastefully done of course.
Novell runs a “Web cafe” in the Congress Centre. I wish I could say there were 100 web browser machines — more like a couple of dozen. But it will certainly serve your purpose. Outside the Congress Centre, it gets more difficult. Davos still has analogue telephone switching, so some people have found it difficult to access anything. This year, for the first time, there will be an IT help desk that will extend to getting people an ISDN line for their hotel room, should they need it.
On the Manila demo, there won’t be a formal opportunity. You are free to freelance opportunities, but that kind of demo isn’t a Davos thing — at least not in the Congress Centre.
Pictures of course are fine.
Plenary sessions are all on the record (and will all be webcast). Interactive sessions are theoretically off the record, but in practice most people report on them — generally checking on the sensitive items. Meals are generally really off the record (unless it’s with someone like Larry Summers, who understands that anything that happens in front of 100 people can never be off the record).
More thoughts to come, daily, if I can keep it up.