World Economic Forum or WEF is founded by Klaus Schwab way back in 1971. Klaus was a business professor at the University of Geneva and the first name he gave to this creation was European Management Forum but the name was changed to World Economic Forum in 1987 and it remained so till today.
To those that do not know, still, WEF is an international non-governmental and lobbying organization with a home base at Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was funded by over 1,000 member companies that have over $5 billion in turnover, which is rather incredible. Another incredible piece of information is that it is annually hosted at Davos, a mountain resort in the eastern Alps and it hosts over 3,000 paying members and a handful of selected participants that range from business, politics, celebrities and even journalism.
If you happen to be that lucky to get invited to the WEF you need to know a couple of things and you need to get there with some good company because things like these are made for friends. The resort at which WEF takes place is extraordinary and if you went alone, you would squander that experience. If by any chance you don’t have anyone going with you, you should check out Emerans.com and see if you can find yourself the company you need.
Now without much further ado let’s get into the things you need to know if you are attending the WEF annual meeting.
1. It only one out of four
WEF is only one out of four annual meetings that the forum holds and WEF is the first one and it is the flagship event and it is held every year in Davos in Switzerland, but we already mentioned that. WEF is the one that shapes the global regional and industry agendas at the beginning of each calendar year. The other three are the annual meeting of the New Champions on Innovation held in People’s Republic of China, the annual meeting of the Global Future Council held in the United Arab Emirates and last but not least is Industry Strategy Meeting which brings together industry strategy officers to shape industry agendas on how to shift from managing change to pioneering change.
2. It takes four days
This annual meeting takes place for four days and you should stick through the entire meeting. We understand that some of the people that will be speaking on this forum might be more interesting than others and that some events or days might be more appealing than others, we advise you to stick through the entire thing and get the complete picture of the issues at hand. These annual meetings always have a burning topic that is carried through all four days and if you skip one or two you will miss out on something that would complete the entire picture for you. Plus you never know when something interesting might happen and, although economic forums sound boring, they really can be quite interesting from time to time. Just remember the one with Mr Trump attended. You could hear a lot of things, that were rather interesting.
3. Be prepared to be awed
This forum is remarkable in several ways but the 2024 one has been one of the best and we will remember it for some time. We were truly amazed by some things there and we were awed by the attention to detail the organizers make. If you didn’t know the 2024 Davos annual meeting was fully carbon neutral and they managed that through reducing, calculating and offsetting event-related emissions. On top of that, they had initiatives that allowed them to utilize locally-sourced food suppliers, they introduced alternate sources of protein to reduce meat consumption, sourcing 100% renewable energy and reduced the usage of non-recyclable materials. All of this is expected from people that are constantly tackling issues that plague the modern world, and from people that constantly think and predict the future.
4. There will always be familiar and famous people
From politics, the business world, cinematography, people who have in some way deserved to be here will be here. Be prepared to see some very familiar faces and hear some inspirational speeches all around. If you recall the Davos 2018 saw the likes of US President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, but besides the world leaders you could also see actors Cate Blanchett, Shah Rukh Khan and musician Will.i.am and singer Elton John. So, as you can see it is a well-rounded forum where you can see everyone, hear a lot of good things and learn a lot along the way. You will not always be limited to politics, business or economy all the time, there is some fun to be had in Davos as well.
5. Exclusive party
It is no secret that all these important people that attend this forum like to party, and they do party in big style. Every WEF there are big parties that are thrown for its “high-profile participants”. Now you can imagine what is happening at these parties and how crazy it might be. We couldn’t tell you for sure because even we do not know how these looks exactly. After all, getting invited to one of these is extremely tough and you, apparently have to cure cancer or be a president of a country to attend one of these. But hey we always have someone that spills thing or two and we know that rich businesses and other types of people at these parties can get a bit crazy. So, the last thing to know is that if you ever manage to get invited to one of these parties, don’t miss it for the world.
All jokes aside WEF is one of the most important meetings every year and this is the place where our present issues get solved to some extent and where our brighter future gets planned. All of those that are lucky to be invited to these meetings is truly blessed and you should know that you are attending something that only a handful of chosen will ever be able to.
