Davos organizers should consider moving venue to Asia<\/p>\n
Harry Bhaskara
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Davos<\/p>\n
If you are fond of playing hide-and-seek, you will have a good
\ntime at the annual Davos gathering.<\/p>\n
Discussion rooms in the Congress Center can be a nightmare to
\nlocate. The main conference building's seemingly illogical design
\nis an outgrowth of the original building, with annexes
\ncontinuously added to it to accommodate the increasing number of
\nparticipants, today hovering over 2,200.<\/p>\n
Looking for the site of a hall for a session or to meet a
\nperson was much like a round of hide-and-seek.<\/p>\n
From the outside, the center in which the World Economic Forum
\nwas held is an unpretentious building with bare, gray bricks. It
\nis a far cry from the posh building one might associate with a
\ngathering of the rich.<\/p>\n
Once inside, the floor layout leads you downstairs. The floors
\nare not even named level one or two but called promenade level,
\nafter the street name, followed by intermediate and lower level
\ndown under.<\/p>\n
The challenge was to locate each of the nine discussion halls
\nwhere most of the 300-odd sessions were held over five days. It
\nwas a disaster for newcomers. The map did not help a lot as it
\nwas often less than accurate.<\/p>\n
In addition you had to familiarize yourself with the names of
\nsome 20 hotels scattered around Davos village since they are also
\nplaces where discussions were held. Many of the names of the
\nhotels sound German, denoting that the owners are Swiss of German
\norigin.<\/p>\n
Transportation to the hotels was free, easy and convenient as
\nbuses traveling to the village came every 15 minutes at numerous
\nbus stops, in addition to dozens of vans that constantly circled
\nthe village of 13,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\n
One only needed to wave at a van for it to stop. Depending on
\nwho you happened to share a ride with, chances were it might turn
\ninto a moving debate between participants on their way to
\nconference sites.<\/p>\n
As in the session halls, these mobile discussions were almost
\nalways dominated by Westerners as only 15 percent of 2,200
\nparticipants -- from 96 countries -- were non-Westerners. The
\nhardest part was waiting for the bus or van on side streets in
\nfreezing temperatures, which at times plunged to minus 20 degrees
\nCelsius.<\/p>\n
In the basement was the media center, a small, cramped and
\ncrowded low-ceilinged room with only a dozen computers. True to
\nthe nature of capitalism, only the rich media count, for they had
\nprivate rooms. The rule is you get what you pay for.<\/p>\n
Prices in Davos are a challenge for outsiders, especially
\nthose coming from developing countries. Lunch or dinner cost from
\nUS$25 to $75, the latter being equal to the monthly minimum wage
\nin Jakarta. Most of the sessions had no fee to sign up but those
\nwith lunch or dinner might cost $75. The wages of a bus driver in
\nDavos are around US$2,400 a month and for housekeeping staff in a
\nstar-rated hotel, half that amount.<\/p>\n
Hotel rooms ranged from US$350 to $800 per night. This is four
\ntimes the rate in Jakarta. Since Davos is a famous ski resort,
\nhotels had to refuse bookings from holidaymakers during the week.
\nEach booking for participants needed to be made for a minimum of
\nfive nights, the duration of the meeting.<\/p>\n
The hardest challenge for Davos organizers, especially if they
\nwish to increase voices from Asia, is to break their emotional
\nties with beautiful Davos.<\/p>\n
That is, to move the annual gathering elsewhere, although Asia
\nwould be a more logical location as it is the place where more
\nthan half of the world's population live. Asia also has a lot of
\nmountains if the organizers wish to preserve the Davos signature
\nof serenity and a cold climate.<\/p>\n
As such, people from warmer countries would be saved from the
\ntorture of subzero temperatures. Participants could also avoid
\ntime-consuming queues to deposit their overcoats.<\/p>\n
And you would not have to play hide-and-seek to get to
\ndiscussion rooms, as presumably there are buildings out there
\nthat have been designed with people in mind.<\/p>\n
(The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/davos-organizers-should-consider-moving-venue-to-asia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }