another 1111 view from Thomas Crampton(he is a 1111 member),
New York Times and International Herald Tribune reporter:
(at least he lists other sources)
With bloggers inside, Davos secrets are out
Thomas Crampton IHT Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Tell-all accounts proliferate on the Web
DAVOS, Switzerland This year the barbarians were not protesting at the gates of the World Economic Forum; they were inside and blogging. A growing group of executives for both companies and nonprofit groups used their personal Web logs to tell the outside world what was happening in the heart of global capitalism.
.
"Davos has now been breached by the blog," said Joichi Ito, chief executive of Neoteny Co., a venture capital firm based in Japan. "Anyone interacting with my blog gets past the guards."
.
While Davos has been blogged on a limited scale in the past, the arrival of wireless Internet connections brought a fever pitch. The blogs - Web diaries - reached all corners of the World Economic Forum, which closed last weekend in this Swiss village.
.
Ito was one of more than half a dozen other active bloggers this year at Davos, ranging from a Harvard academic to entrepreneurs to representatives of groups critical of the forum itself.
.
"I am one of the Shakespearean 'fools,' invited to amuse, surprise and, within moderation, attack, the gathered throng: an insider-outsider with attitude," wrote Simon Zadek, chief of AccountAbility, a group based in Britain, in his blog at Opendemocracy.net.
.
Because their medium is interactive, bloggers liken themselves to ambassadors rather than reporters.
.
"Reading the text of my blog itself is not really the interesting part," said Ethan Zuckerman, chief executive of Geekcorps, a nonprofit organization that provides technology assistance to the developing world. "The exciting part is how the Internet allows me to be the eyes and ears for the people sending me postings from Africa."
.
Hunched over laptops in lounges and even tapping away in closed-door sessions, the bloggers of Davos set about their task with an evangelistic fervor that occasionally proved contagious.
.
"Seeing all the bloggers finally inspired me to finally start one myself while here at Davos," said Yat Siu, chief executive of Outblaze, an e-mail services company.
.
Apart from those who pack spare batteries - Ito carries at least three - bloggers can often be seen hijacking power cables from lamps and pulling back the decor in search of plugs.
.
"Davos blogs have multiplied and now involve much more content about politics rather than technology," Ito said. "Unlike traditional journalists, we present our own subjective views and invite people to comment."
.
Ito's blog, joi.ito.com, recounts his views on speakers and fellow attendees and even criticizes forum organizers. "They got most of what I said, but I think my emphasis was a bit different," Ito wrote of the official account of one panel on which he appeared.
.
In typical blog fashion, Ito offered a series of links to back up his assertions, including one to a video recording of the session to be posted by a fellow blogger, Loïc Le Meur, a serial entrepreneur and currently chief executive of the Paris-based blog company Ublog.
.
Le Meur's posting of video from a supposedly confidential closed-door session could place bloggers at loggerheads with conference organizers. It also contravenes conference rules imposed on accredited journalists.
.
Organizers did not, however, prevent Le Meur from making his video recording.
.
"I will not share anything confidential," said Le Meur, adding that he had permission from the World Economic Forum to post the video. "But I do want to show people that even committed capitalists can share ideas."
.
For some, however, such obsessive use of communications technology totally misses the point of meeting in Davos. Its isolation is exactly what is needed to have room to think, they say.
.
"I have not read e-mails for more than five days now," said Jitesh Gadhia, a managing director at ABN Amro. "My secretary is new, so I hope she knows to call me if there is a real crisis."
.
International Herald Tribune
< < Back to Start of Article Tell-all accounts proliferate on the Web
DAVOS, Switzerland This year the barbarians were not protesting at the gates of the World Economic Forum; they were inside and blogging. A growing group of executives for both companies and nonprofit groups used their personal Web logs to tell the outside world what was happening in the heart of global capitalism.
.
"Davos has now been breached by the blog," said Joichi Ito, chief executive of Neoteny Co., a venture capital firm based in Japan. "Anyone interacting with my blog gets past the guards."
.
While Davos has been blogged on a limited scale in the past, the arrival of wireless Internet connections brought a fever pitch. The blogs - Web diaries - reached all corners of the World Economic Forum, which closed last weekend in this Swiss village.
.
Ito was one of more than half a dozen other active bloggers this year at Davos, ranging from a Harvard academic to entrepreneurs to representatives of groups critical of the forum itself.
.
"I am one of the Shakespearean 'fools,' invited to amuse, surprise and, within moderation, attack, the gathered throng: an insider-outsider with attitude," wrote Simon Zadek, chief of AccountAbility, a group based in Britain, in his blog at Opendemocracy.net.
.
Because their medium is interactive, bloggers liken themselves to ambassadors rather than reporters.
.
"Reading the text of my blog itself is not really the interesting part," said Ethan Zuckerman, chief executive of Geekcorps, a nonprofit organization that provides technology assistance to the developing world. "The exciting part is how the Internet allows me to be the eyes and ears for the people sending me postings from Africa."
.
Hunched over laptops in lounges and even tapping away in closed-door sessions, the bloggers of Davos set about their task with an evangelistic fervor that occasionally proved contagious.
.
"Seeing all the bloggers finally inspired me to finally start one myself while here at Davos," said Yat Siu, chief executive of Outblaze, an e-mail services company.
.
Apart from those who pack spare batteries - Ito carries at least three - bloggers can often be seen hijacking power cables from lamps and pulling back the decor in search of plugs.
.
"Davos blogs have multiplied and now involve much more content about politics rather than technology," Ito said. "Unlike traditional journalists, we present our own subjective views and invite people to comment."
.
Ito's blog, joi.ito.com, recounts his views on speakers and fellow attendees and even criticizes forum organizers. "They got most of what I said, but I think my emphasis was a bit different," Ito wrote of the official account of one panel on which he appeared.
.
In typical blog fashion, Ito offered a series of links to back up his assertions, including one to a video recording of the session to be posted by a fellow blogger, Loïc Le Meur, a serial entrepreneur and currently chief executive of the Paris-based blog company Ublog.
.
Le Meur's posting of video from a supposedly confidential closed-door session could place bloggers at loggerheads with conference organizers. It also contravenes conference rules imposed on accredited journalists.
.
Organizers did not, however, prevent Le Meur from making his video recording.
.
"I will not share anything confidential," said Le Meur, adding that he had permission from the World Economic Forum to post the video. "But I do want to show people that even committed capitalists can share ideas."
.
For some, however, such obsessive use of communications technology totally misses the point of meeting in Davos. Its isolation is exactly what is needed to have room to think, they say.
.
"I have not read e-mails for more than five days now," said Jitesh Gadhia, a managing director at ABN Amro. "My secretary is new, so I hope she knows to call me if there is a real crisis."
.
International Herald Tribune
================================
Kind of fun to read about the 1111 and who they are
and try of compare them to the WEF.
Thanks for posting that article. It will be fun
reading about them. Not only for political slants
but also for investing to see relationships in a
different view. Its too early to say if anything
will be gleaned but this is better than the New World
Order <g> |
