07 Feb 2011 World Economic Forum: What Happens in Davos
The World Economic Forum‘s annual Davos conference marks one of the world’s more layered brands. For media leaders, it is an opportunity to take stock of sentiments among global business and policy elites. For business leaders it offers a chance to broker deals and, in some cases, announce publicly-minded initiatives amidst an attentive audience. For politicians and policy leaders, it is a pre-G20 moment to meet with international peers on priority topics for the year ahead, and also to meet with private sector shapers of the global economic agenda. For non-profit leaders and academics, it is a chance to interact with all of the above, and to access a rare concentration of people who affect an uncommon share of the world’s political, economic, and public attention.
This year was the third time that I have attended Davos, and each time the experience has been quite distinct. In 2005 I attended as a staffer in my then-UN capacity, just weeks after the Asian tsunami and 10 days following the release of the UN Millennium Project‘s final report, Investing in Development. Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were at the top of everyone’s agenda, including politicians like then-Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder and likewise celebrity attendees like Bono, Angelina Jolie, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Chris Tucker.