The World Economic Forum in Davos is finally trying to make its mark in social media at this year’s conference. The organization is unveiling the beta version of its exclusive Facebook-style social networking site, called WELCOM, reserved for high-profile attendees of the World Economic Forum like Mark Zuckerberg, Vladimir Putin and Kofi Annan.
The site, which was designed in partnership with Adobe Systems, BT Innovate and Microsoft, will actually be a pretty nifty way to share ideas between the world’s best and brightest. That is, if world leaders will bother to take the time to contribute to the site and establish profiles. (Don’t count on it).
It seems like the forum is reinventing the wheel since it uses LinkedIn and Facebook style features, yet doesn’t appear to link to either of those networks. Other conferences such as now-defunct tech conference PCForum have used existing networking sites, such as LinkedIn, to their advantage by creating groups and discussion boards for attendees. Rather than reinvent the wheel, they tapped into sites where most people already have profiles.
WELCOM will allow world leaders to sign into virtual meetings with video technology, share documents, and discuss topics live. Members can also set up private rooms and invite guest experts to participate when needed. WELCOM can also publish works and news via a public page, to share results.
Although the World Economic Forum is encouraging members to use the site to share personal news as they would a Facebook account, it’s doubtful whether world leaders would poke each other and reveal personal details, and other more “complicated” matters.
This application comes as no surprise since the World Economic Forum has made several strides into the social web this year. The forum has active MySpace and Facebook pages and a Twitter feed. The forum also uses Flickr to post current photos and features two YouTube channels, the more tame forum channel, and the Davos Debates channel.
Here are screenshots of Welcom. It’s probably as close as you are going to get to the site, so enjoy.
lolz nice coverage. How much is for a membership?? Are Mark, Putin and Kofi alreay on it?
Hey Leena
You forgot to mention the involvement of Infosys in this. It was Infosys who implemented the system with the enterprise web 2.0 solution. Go India!
Anjali Sen
http://smartbab...xy.blogspot.com
Hey Anjali,
Why do we keep harping about involvement of our Indian companies. I mean, yes it is good, but I don’t see any need to point it out every single opportunity we get. And yes, personally, I don’t think this site is going to be of much use anyway. Just a gimmick, I will say..
si
freefreebiefinder.com
The web 2.0 solution was delivered by Adobe, using Flex 3
The UI is written using Flex and Livecycle Data Services.
Well, in my opinion the best and most exclusive social network is Twibeo. It is similar to Twitter, except it gives you the freedom to share photos, videos, links, and much more.
your link is failing lol
such a load of BS. What exactly is in it for the ‘exclusive’ users?
Do you know how much their time is worth? They’re going all the way to Davos to hang out and they want to make it worth their while. The network tells them who’s there, lets them make connections and set up meetings. This isn’t Facebook for rich people, it’s an upgraded attendee directory to help them get more out of the time they’re already spending there.
Agreed 100%.
Ever big conference has something of the sort… just this being WEF… their’s takes it up a notch.
Maybe being part of this “exclusive” site will eliminate Arrington’s frustration about being spat on as he once again realizes the benefits of power…or, maybe not.
Just retarded.
@toddgoldman @jayfader @natalieblacker
Bah, too bad they did not make it a private group on Facebook instead. I bet Putin would kick major ass at Mob Wars.
Excellent article, keep them coming!
Like cartmanland
Lol. Yes, exactly.
http://www.sout...om/clips/152804
The proposal seems very, very good news.
When you say exclusive do you mean it costs money and is only for certain people..?
Incidentally, Rob Tarkoff is brilliant. Worked for him a while — one really smart guy.
Interesting but too exclusive too.
Great. So the people who already screwed up big time – or who’s *responsible* for the mess we’re in, they’re the *leaders*, right – can exchange and discuss ideas that very obviously don’t work.
Just what we need, another self-referential reality distortion platform.
“for high-profile attendees of the World Economic Forum like Mark Zuckerberg, Vladimir Putin and Kofi Annan”.
Zuckerberg in the same sentence with Putin and Annan…really???
I don’t see a signup button, where can I signup? Any beta keys?
very, very good news
It’s great! But where can I signup?
Looks like an Air app. Do they think this will make it more secret because the front-end isn’t on the web?
I would love to see this type of platform get used for distance-learning programs and other types of instructional technology.
Will this ever get opened up?
What a classic stupid politicians idea. Look at us we are sooooo web 2.0 – waste of tax payers money.
Nothing screams failure louder than a forced network of individuals that are not truly within a connected social network. This type of misguided focus is why most of the people / companies listed in this exclusive group are also the same exclusive group that are in the headlines for massive company losses and/or employee lay offs – here’s an idea, focus on your respective businesses and customers (vs. stock price or attempting to bandwagon with faux networking sites or attending completely meaningless events).
Sure, Infosys is involved.. it means site was late (beat is unveiled after the forum), most likely costs millions, half of the engineers are already moved to another company, and after the forum there will be an accounting scandal… Oh, forgot – when it will be shutdown (soon), one of the engineers plants an e-bomb… Just my .2c looking at the oversize Indian outsources. There are lots of brilliant people in our country, but mega-companies ruin it for the entire Indian Tech community!
Think they tried to launch something similar last year… However, social networks neglecting the social and open aspect are quite destined to fail, aren’t they?
I doubt CEOs/CFOs/top-Politicians and further high profile executives start spending their precious time on a tedious webpage – they would rather hire an assistant to do so…
Daniel, I think that depends what the benefit is you expect from an exclusive social networking site.
If a CEO/CFO or top-Politician is using the site just for business reasons because it is a must for him to be part of the network, you might are right, they would rather hire an assistant to do so… But I met CEOs as well as top-Politicans who are personally very active in networking on this sites.
In my opinion, “quality over quantity” is the key to success for an exclusive social community, but that principle is rarely found on the internet, even among “exclusive” platforms, where striving for higher user numbers has become the highest priority, like you can currently see on aSmallWord.
I’m a member of some exclusive networking sites, like ASW, Decayenne, or CosmoCircle, and despite of all this “problems”, I met very interesting people, found new friends, made successful new business contacts and found business opportunities, that otherwise would have been unobtainable.
Close guys…. but certainly no where near close enough! A floored model I’m afraid…
http://www.famebook.com – launching this summer!
Cool, they are using Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional.
The web 2.0 solution was delivered by Adobe, using Flex 3
I’m afraid…