January 20, 2008

Davos World Economic Forum

Michael Arrington

30 comments »

I’m attending and covering two great conferences this week. First up is the Digital, Life, Design event in Munich (where i have just arrived). There are a few interesting panels and discussions, and I’ll mention any highlights over the next two days.

Then on Tuesday I’ll join three thousand other lucky individuals who are attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It is an honor to be able to attend, and many of the sessions are bloggable (some are off record). I’ll also be one of the “challengers” at the Pioneers and Pitches session on Saturday, and will cover that as well. Any free time during the week will be spent trying to convince Larry, Sergey and Marissa from Google that they should let me on the Google jet back to the bay area (wish me luck).

The Davos Conversation

The deadline for the Davos Conversation is tomorrow, January 21. The program is a way to get a conversation going between Davos participants and the wider community, and you can join the discussion.

To participate, create a video that answers the question “What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?” and upload it to the Davos Conversation YouTube site.

Submit your video by tomorrow and it will be included (click “view/vote” on the site to view all the videos. I’ll have mine up tomorrow as well. If you do post a video response, please leave a comment below with a direct link to the video.

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Comments

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KK

January 20th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

“Critics of the World Economic Forum assert that it is really just a business forum, where the richest businesses can easily negotiate deals with one another and lobby the world’s most powerful politicians, and that the aim is profit-making rather than solving economic problems such as poverty.” - Wikipedia

Hope critics are not right.
carlos

January 20th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

I hope you join the jet back to the bay area, you really deserve it.
Good luck from Chile!
Karsten Wysk

January 20th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Hey Michael Arrington in good old Germany - that’s a surprise!

A warm welcome from Germany’s sporting community meinSport.de (=mysports.com)

Cheers Karsten

btw: make sure to go to the “hofbräuhaus” .. if you need more tips for munich just send me a note^^
panefsky

January 20th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

Competing while collaborating.
Now that’s a good subject to talk about.
Morgan

January 20th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

It’s not like it’s a tough question– free people and free markets. The end. Look at any ranking of world prosperity and it’s clear.

I look forward to the answer they come up with though, I’m sure it will be entertaining.
ChrisW

January 20th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

Good luck with the Google jet flight. If you do manage to get on board we’ll expect a full and detailed description of what the interior is like.
Robert Scoble

January 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

ChrisW: the people who got a ride on the Google Jet last year signed an NDA, so if Mike gets a ride this year I doubt he’ll be able to give many details. Me? I’m on Swissair to Davos tomorrow.
Rob Leathern

January 20th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

Hey Techcrunch ad guys - what’s up with the Pansonsonic ad I see in the Techcrunch feed? Is it you guys or Feedburner doing that?

Check out a screenshot at:
http://leathern.com/wp-content.....nsonic.JPG
ChrisW

January 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

@robert scoble

Thanks mate. It must be pretty impressive if they need you to sign an NDA not to talk about it. Have fun over there .. oh, and I want a full description of the interior of the Swissair jet too!
John

January 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

I have to post my video response. As i have explained to you personally in Leweb3 Michael, THE power nowadays must come back to the people themselves. we have to start helping each other if we wish to enjoy a better life! Governments all over the world have failed to prepare a better future for this world. Companies just don’t care…So what we really have to do is to start granting wishes each other. You remember? From user generated content to user Generated wish Granting? Is nt this cool? Is nt this easy? Its all about people and how much each other would like to help each other…Its like having Sergey granting your wish! So easy. And yes this could save the world.By one of us each time!Good Luck at Davos and i hope you live blog from there the crucial news and predictions!BTW if you miss Google jet you can enjoy some short vacations in Greece! You will enjoy !
Does this article upset Duncan

January 20th, 2008 at 4:02 pm

Same Advice for startup. Never show your greatness feeling after flying overseas. This upsets Duncan.
Is Duncan Upset?

January 20th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

why wouldn’t Mike bring Duncan?

I wonder how duncan feels if Mike rides Google Jet. I think he looks pissed off.
Fake Steve Jobs

January 20th, 2008 at 4:35 pm

Scoble, are you attending the burger king grand opening in Davos? i hope they’re paying for your first class flight!
ajadoniz

January 20th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

Congrats, Arrington, take many pictures!
dishonestrealtor.com

January 20th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

good job aarrrrrington.

admin
dishonestrealtor.com
Mick Liubinskas

January 20th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

This is a great idea and a grand stage.

We created a forum to talk about it more if anyone is interested;

http://www.tangler.com/forum/davosconversation
other

January 20th, 2008 at 7:29 pm

“Scoble, are you attending the burger king grand opening in Davos? i hope they’re paying for your first class flight!”

lol

also, girl at the beginning is a hottie
marcy simon

January 20th, 2008 at 7:46 pm

Michael - u were great at the crunchies! Best video in a long time better than CES - dld is awesome come and see sean parker on the social panel at 9am tuesday - see you there and we can afterwards to talk about european technolgy innovation and entrepenuership davos is a blast too!
Marcy
Deborah Kaplan

January 20th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

Mike, Given that most of the conversation at Davos will be around how the world is going to deal with our carbon problem, tell Google that the best way for them to immediately reduce their emissions would be to give you a lift home. As you know private jet travel is most environmentally irresponsible forms of travel available. By having you on board they can reduce their emissions and be a good corporate citizen. A mid class Learjet produces around 5000 tones of co2/hour! You could offset your flight with Zerofootprint and be carbon neutral.
Shafqat

January 21st, 2008 at 12:46 am

Mike - its a great honor to participate in Davos, but a great responsibility too. There are a lot of people who would love to go there to get their voices heard, or atleast get an audience with people (from all walks of life) who can really make a difference. Enjoy it, but do let us know what it’s like from the inside. I have to believe its more than just business forum. Good luck!
-Shafqat (from Switzerland)
pejman

January 21st, 2008 at 12:48 am

this is my video:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=469yvl_zeGw
Robert Scoble

January 21st, 2008 at 1:45 am

Fake Steve Jobs: nah, Fast Company is paying for me to attend. I always fly business unless someone gives me a ride on their private jet.
window server hosting

January 21st, 2008 at 2:23 am

The first attempt of Davos question was a good success, I hope this attempt will too dominate the discussion at the World Economic Forum.
Michael Arrington

January 21st, 2008 at 3:27 am

pejman - good video!
I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog

January 21st, 2008 at 6:57 am

The answer to the Davos question is very simple. All three should stop trying to shift their inherent and inalienable responsibilities to the other two.

Countries (i.e. governments) need to stop trying to push “social responsibility” onto companies. The purpose of a company is to enrich its shareholders within the limits of the laws you set down. Making the country a fairer place is *your* job, for which you extract taxpayers’ money at effective gunpoint.

Companies need to stop trying to make it the government’s responsibility whether they make money or not, instead of relying on their own innovation and business skills. End the lobbying, end the subsidies, end the pork, end the protectionism, end the corruption.

Individuals need to stop pushing their individual responsibilities onto governments and companies. It’s not McDonald’s fault you spilt your coffee on yourself while driving. Passing more laws, installing more CCTV and removing more civil liberties will not protect you from crime and terrorism. If you don’t like second-hand smoke, open the Yellow Pages and find somewhere that caters to a non-smoking crowd, instead of demanding that everyone runs their establishment according to your whims.

Yes, I know they want a video. Sorry, I’m not Web 2.0 enough. If you must, run the above post through a text-to-speech program, close your eyes and imagine a spotty youth umming and ahing at you every other sentence. We invented writing to overcome the limitations of face-to-face communication, but there’s VC money and headlines at stake, so all hail the techno-backsliding counter-revolution.
The Simon George fund

January 21st, 2008 at 7:30 am

This should be interesting. Hopefully effective.

http://simongeorgeinc.googlepages.com
Jose Miguel Cansado

January 21st, 2008 at 8:55 am

Mr. Arrington, congratulations for making it to Davos, with the world economic elite!!

My 50 cents to make the world a better place:
Countries: Embrace freedom (free-trade, market economy and democracy) and fight corruption. Governments just need to deal with guaranteeing Competition, Health4all, Education4all, and Justice4all.

Companies: Give-back. Invest in emerging countries for they are the markets of tomorrow, and your source for low cost. Be socially responsible.

Individuals: Voice your ideas. Internet give us the tools to collectively fight injustice and pressure companies and countries to do it right.
Zennie Abraham

January 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 am

Hey Michael, I tried to upload my video before the end of the 21st and did, but then the YouTube Davos page system only showed the videos I had on my channel, except the one I made for the forum. It’s this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vSy1xhC6gk

Maybe by some miracle it will get in!

Zennie