World Economic Forum Highlight Reel Day 2

Continuing the thread about what an amazing opportunity it is to attend the World Economic Forum, see the highlight reel above from WEF’s YouTube channel featuring some of the biggest names in global leadership and governance in the world today.

The biggest names are heavily guarded with security and usually being whisked away to one room or another, but approachable if you can get their attention for just a moment. Walking down a hallway I’ve passed rooms where French President Sarkozy is meeting with the CEO of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab. I walked into a room yesterday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in a briefing with BBC Correspondent Nik Gowing about his ambitions for his G20 leadership and his vision for South Korea’s future. I stumbled upon a seating area where I was looking to rest for 10 minutes in one open chair and instead entered into a conversation about nuclear proliferation and how to work with governments in developing countries to stop making nuclear weapons with the Founder of Space Adventures, Eric Anderson, the Founder of Operation Hope, John Bryant and the Crown Prince of Norway, Prince Haakon. I grabbed tea with the CEO of News Corp and then we, together, scoped out and finagled ourselves into the second row of a session where Former President Bill Clinton was speaking on the state of Haiti.

And that list only goes to about 4pm!

Each day is like that here. A glorious amount of over-information that I imagine will continue to permeate and sink in for months to come. Tomorrow is the final “official” day of panels. It’s hard to believe it will soon be over and I’ll be back in New Orleans, telling everyone about all the good New Orleans gospel I’ve been spreading to anyone who will listen about all New Orleans has to offer. But not yet. No sir, no yet. For now, I edit and upload videos, I edit and upload photos, I write and hyperlink blog posts to share with all of you. I sleep (barely) and eat (sometimes) and buck up to soak in all the Davos has to offer working through the exhaustion and the wall and the feeling that as much as I’m absorbing is as much as I’m missing.

I’m already plotting my return for 2011.

Don’t forget to watch my video interviews of some of the best and brightest leaders of today and tomorrow on the MySpace blog.

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

Let me share something here that I’m not sharing over on the MySpace blogs. Rather let me gush for a second. Davos is truly spectacular. There is something about an invite-only conference that allows every attendee to walk up to one another and say hi, introduce yourself, make conversation. Everyone who is here has done something special to be here. Sure, there are a few lucky ducks (like myself) who have found there way here, but heads of states and CEOs and global leaders all under one roof make for very interesting conversation.

Which leads me to my next point – the people here care very much. There are a lot of conversations about just about everything you could imagine. Water conservation and sustainable of global fisheries, the future of the middle east, what the World Cup in South Africa this summer can raise awareness of current hot topic issues in Africa, the crisis in Haiti. There are a million things happening in the world right now and chances are someone here is an expert in that field.

There is a dark side here too. Or rather a pessimism. Last year, 9 of the global CEOs of banks were no-shows. They couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t have shown their faces in the wake of such a catastrophic global financial meltdown and so weren’t here. Last year, the infamous and exclusive parties featuring vertical wine tastings or grand-cru french wines were canceled. It was deemed inappropriate to be lavish and thought to shed a negative light on the conference. CEOs of global companies meet here in Davos, this tucked away Swiss ski town and who knows what happens behind closed doors.

But let me say this. There is a line from a TED Talk that I love that goes, “It’s too late to be pessimistic. It’s too late to think we can do nothing. We must look forward to the future. We must look to building something greater than what we have today.”

That is the essence of Davos. Optimism that the work everyone is doing here is inspiring something greater for not just the next generation but 7 generations out. Among these leaders within their communities, I feel as if anything is possible for myself. I feel a freedom to be bold, to keep pushing forward, to have faith in what I believe is my own personal mission in life – helping people discover cause and ways to give back. Here, anything is possible and if I take away one lesson from Davos, it’s an almost “Santa Claus like spirit” where we believe what we want to believe. And so I choose to believe in hope. I choose to believe in the future. I choose to believe in you.

We Did It! Davos Bound!

We did it! Thanks to ALL OF YOU and my many other supporters, you have helped me win the opportunity to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as the citizen journalist for MySpace and the Wall Street Journal.

You were the sixth judge. Every vote you cast, helped me with the community vote. The other judges were the CEO of MySpace, CEO of News International, Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Head of Communications for the World Economic Forum and the winner from last year. You’re in good company.

I’m on a jet plane TODAY for Switzerland and I’ll be there all week representing all of you and meeting world leaders, global thinkers, CEOs and activists. Where can you catch all the blogging goodness? So glad you asked!

First, all posts (blogs, photos and video) start on the MySpace Journal page. Those will also be syndicated on The Wall Street Journal online.

After 24hours on those outlets, I will repurpose some of the content on my blog and you might see it around the web in other places too. And I’ll continue to blog and write about my experiences when I’m back. And of course, you can catch my up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter where I’m @sloane and will be using the hashtag #wef. Let me also recommend following @davos and their awesome Twitter list of WEFMedia.

If YOU were attending Davos, who would you want to meet? What question would you ask of our world’s leaders?

Ask me and I’ll do the digging and reporting for you. It’s going to be a whirlwind, but I can handle it. Don’t worry, I got this! Can’t wait to share my experiences with you.

Davos Bound,
Sloane

WhatGives Interview Series

Big thank you to the team at What Gives for the interview above from October’s Blog World Expo in Las Vegas where Christopher Smith (@groovemonkey) interviewed me about my cause-filled life, the turning point that got me there, Cause It’s My Birthday and what’s next.

Also, a shout out to What Gives for the post on my upcoming trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos later this week.

Exciting New Press To Share!

It’s been busy over at Camp Causemopolitan and there is some exciting press I’d like to share with everyone. I work really hard to help others and build community so to be recognized for that work is really incredible. I have gotten really amazing emails from people about each piece and it’s a great way to connect with new people either in the cause and philanthropy space or looking for a way to build cause into their lives, so for that exposure and opportunity to continue to help others and broaden my reach, I’d like to thank the writers of each of these four pieces.

Charities Look for Ways to Unlock the Benefits of Social-Media Tools, Chronicle of Philanthropy, December 10, 2009.

Sloane Berrent wanted her 30th birthday to involve more than sharing cake and drinks with friends. So she and a friend started using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to spread the word that their birthday celebrations would benefit Netting Nations, a charity that fights malaria.

The pair asked people in their online networks to hold parties in seven cities in as many days. Supporters could give small donations: $15 to buy bed nets to protect a family from malaria, or $75 to protect a village. Ms. Berrent, a former fund raiser and marketer who left her job last year to volunteer, flew with her friend from city to city on their own dime for the parties. In a month, they raised more than $19,000

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the Causemopolitan

Date Archives → January 29, 2010

World Economic Forum Highlight Reel Day 2

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

We Did It! Davos Bound!

WhatGives Interview Series

Exciting New Press To Share!