Party Favorites: Zuma (left) and Thompson
 
Photos: Getty Images

The first Davos cocktail party is always a crush. Hundreds of participants wait on line to go through metal detectors then press shoulder-to-shoulder inside the Belvedere Hotel, necks craning and eyes straining in case they miss out on a Person of Note.

I got lucky tonight, as my big encounter came even before I shoved into the throng. Waiting to hand in my coat and boots, I found myself next to actress Emma Thompson, one of the celebrity invitees who are a regular feature at World Economic Events. Before her WEF escort had time to introduce me, she checked my badge, greeted me warmly by name and complimented me on my choice of heavy footwear. (Her own heeled black boots, worn with a black dress and hat, were altogether more elegant, if less practical. But then again, she's unlikely to be left to trudge through the snow like the lesser mortals.) We chatted a little longer as we walked in together--she's hoping to learn as much as she can from Davos, she says--and then she got mobbed. First the TV crews surrounded her, then, as the crowd thinned, by beaming groups of middle-aged men coming as close as they could. One, confiding that he'd been in love with her for years, asked if she'd pose for a picture with him. She did.

The appeal of Davos for financiers and businesspeople is to get away from the world of SEC filings, subprime write-downs, and EBITDA, and a chance to indulge the inner wonk/public intellectual. It takes some doing. There’s the eight-hour flight to Zurich followed by another couple of hours in a car, bus or train, chugging slowly up a narrow snowscape, through stands of 200-foot pines. But it’s worth the trip. Instead of sitting through sales meetings, placating investors, or scanning bar charts, they can ponder the implications of the human genome project for cancer research, or listen to Tony Blair, or sit in on a panel discussion with food pioneer Alice Waters.

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Coming into Davos always reminds me of those invisible fences used to keep their dogs straying off suburban properties. Some of the security measures to safeguard the arriving VIPs are indeed visible—mostly in the form of a security cordon outside the conference center and airport-style metal detectors at the main hotels—but much of it is hidden behind unseen barriers. The first time I came here, much was made of an anti-globalization protest that was supposed to draw in demonstrators from around Switzerland. Police dealt with it by shrewdly heading off most of the protesters at Landquart station, one of the main switchover points for the little red trains that come up into these mountains. The diminished numbers that did make it into the town put on a spirited show, but most people here had no idea that they were watching a sort of Potemkin protest, with many more activists kept one layer of security away.

This year, though, the World Economic Forum (WEF) organizers are opening Davos up to the masses. Well, kinda… The group has done a deal with YouTube to pose the “Davos Question”: What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008? WEF requests that those interested submit a video posing their question, and promises that the Davos players will get right back to them.

The YouTube community seems to have responded with gusto. According to WEF official Matthias Lufkens, about 844,000 people watched the video before the Davos meeting had even begun (it starts officially on Wednesday, January 23, although what with the slew of pre-Davos events and invitations one could be forgiven for feeling that it’s been going on for months.) About 100 of them have submitted videos, says Lufkens. In keeping with the YouTube ethos, these range from the weird to the odd to the serious. The most watchable? Perhaps that dubious distinction goes to the Headcrab Zombie, whose video persona involves holding a flesh-colored sphere with dangling tentacles that obscure his face:

He, like many others, actually wants to ANSWER the Davos Question, rather than ask it. (“One thing we can do to make the world a better place is to think before we acAt,” rumbles the pink sphere. “If it benefits you, but not the rest of the world, don’t do it.”)

As for those who really do want to hear from the world leaders, Lufkens says they’ll get their wish: WEF plans to haul a bunch of CEOs to a special YouTube booth at the conference center so they can answer to their virtual constituents. “It’s not just a PR stunt,” says Lufkens. “It’s a new way to communicate.” These days, those protesters can travel broadband.

 Laurent Gillieron / AP - for dl use stocksworld

It’s easy – and de rigeur – for journalists to make fun of the seriousness and earnestness of the Davos enterprise. What started as bunch of high-powered and smart people taking time out of their schedules to discuss matters of great import has devolved into a media event, a branding opportunity for companies, global leaders, and nations. But as I was stuck on the security line at John F. Kennedy, waiting to board the Swiss International flight to Zurich yesterday, I got an inkling of why it matters to many of those who attend. I got to commiserating with the passenger behind me in line, who turned out to be the chief executive officer of a major software company. His eyes lit up as he talked to a group of people he knew on the line, who were travelling to Switzerland on business, and described Davos. “You get to think about things you never think about,” he said. “Nobody talks about the weather, and nobody talks about what they did last summer.” And it struck me. For those who are too busy working all day, running companies, making business decisions—people who don’t have time, like journalists do, to read blogs, magazines, and newspapers all day—Davos is less about plugging in, schmoozing, and networking, and more about unplugging from the demands of the daily whirl.

By Laurie Garrett, Council on Foreign Relations

Five years ago at Davos I saw Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates chew out the Minister of Health of China for failing to care for the survival of his people – just weeks before Beijing admitted to having a massive SARS epidemic. The encounter was dramatic, but took place entirely behind closed doors. How many such private interactions on behalf of health and development will occur this year in Davos – particularly given the dire economic news that will be forefront in the minds of most conferees – is hard to say.