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Time for a World Summit
Why...
Do people go to Davos? The question I pose is why Davos as a place, not why a bunch of billionaires and centi-millionaires congregate somewhere to discuss the plight of the working class! Call me stupid but last time I checked Davos is a ski resort. Clearly it would be electoral suicide for a Political bigwig to go there and be filmed enjoying a convivial après ski drink or a couple of runs down the mountain before breakfast… unless you are Putin when it’s more likely your opponents keep committing suicide. However whilst I understand that G10, G20, GSpot or whomever dutifully rotate the choice of a city between members for their get-togethers, who on earth said: “I know, let’s disrupt an entire ski resort in high season, fly a bunch of Politicians and plutocrats into a snow storm and add in a battalion of security guards and flunkies. Oh and the world’s press. Yup, we can shoehorn them somewhere that is dedicated to fun and frivolity and pretend it’s somewhere to save the world”. Whoever that someone was, is a genius and I assume is making a bundle of money out of this.
...and another thing
So I propose to have the Bora Bora Beano to discuss plastics in the sea, the Rio Rendezvous for drug abuse and the Cala de Volpe Conclave in Sardinia for a chinwag on organised crime.
...and another thing
Having been to Cannes for TV, Film and Music Festivals I speak with some authority on conferences. Essentially they are an excuse for middle aged men to chat up impressionable young women, charge expense accounts with well-known restaurants called Gucci, Prada and Cohiba, run up massive bills with car hire company Dolce and Gabana and lob in a bill for stationary from La Perla.
I challenge anyone to show me the cost of sending a bunch of corporate execs for five years to one of these shindigs costs less than sending a couple of people around the world first class to visit each client, present them with a diamond studded belly button brush or vicuña cod pieces and treat them to a bath of champagne and a vigorous massage of beluga caviar. It doesn’t. Nearly all conferences are a massive waste of time and money. Unless of course you are a participant and it’s a hoot.
Believe me the only people who make real dough are restaurants, hotels, designers of stands and doctors on 24 hour call to treat a mild case of the clap or a nose bleed from a cocaine overdose.
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