Amoo at Davos

Many techies have no idea of "The Forum's" existence, however, this gentle giant is worth putting on one's calendar for a variety of reasons - mainly because it attracts a plethora of global leaders, decision-makers, visionaries and captains in industry. We were fortunate to receive an invitation to this year's annual meeting in the otherwise sleepy Swiss village of Davos.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), which held their first annual meeting in January 1971, was founded by Professor Schwab. Then, he focused on how European firms could learn from US management best practice. Since then, it morphed to create the foundation for corporate social responsibility viz "stakeholder" management approach i.e. a full 360 on taking account of all interests "not merely shareholders, clients and customers, but employees and the communities within which they operate, including government."

Currently, WEF has several stakeholder communities. A complete list with links to their respective websites are:

• Strategic Partners
• Industry Partners
• Foundation Members
• Global Growth Companies
• Risk Response Network
• Technology Pioneers
• Schwab Foundation
• Young Global Leaders
• Global Agenda Councils
• Women Leaders and Gender Parity
• Global University Leaders Forum
• Young Global Shapers

Tickets to WEF come at significant cost. We were unable to verify actual figures but heard from attendees that it ranged between twenty five thousand and one hundred thousand USD. A couple of ways to bag yourself a complimentary ticket are via community engagement or nominations e.g. the Young Global Leaders. On the technology front, you really want to be part of the Technology Pioneers community. This year CloudFlare, Dropbox, Palantir and Kickstarter were named Technology Pioneers by WEF.

Even if one never visits nor desires to go to Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) one cannot deny the benefits of networking with global professionals. Being in the midst of highly driven individuals, intricately connected with humanity's history, present and future, fuelled with a shared passion to make the world a better place, is pretty inspiring. The warmth, friendliness, and degree of openness to make new human connections was humbling. We were not prepared to meet so many high quality people!

The key take home for me was: focus and get ready for your turn at the table for it too will surely come to pass.