Later I met Orlando Ashford of Mercer Consulting, which specializes in “talent mobility.” He thrust a massive report into my hands. Very glossy. Lots of phrases like “stakeholder” and “leveraging ‘level 4’ cooperation.” Graphs titled “Matrix of talent mobility good practices by foundational issue addressed.” I asked him what drew him to a forum like this. (Participants pay CHF 5,500 [$5,734] just to sign up, and this doesn’t include travel and expenses.) He was certain the investment was worthwhile, worth every penny, worth it, in fact, for all of the seven members of his company who had flown here with him. Why, I asked? Why not hold the whole thing on the Internet?

“Well, the forum focus is on finance, politics, governance—but at the core it’s still about people. You just can’t do this online.”

I said that I supposed it was true that I would never have met or spoken to him online.

“Exactly,” he said with satisfaction. Still, in the age of Skype, it does seem odd to spend all this money on a gathering that in total easily cost the participants and the government enough money to vaccinate an entire developing nation against measles. But, Orlando explained, “networking is what’s most valuable. There’s still something about spending time human-to-human.”

Claire Berlinski is a freelance journalist who lives in Istanbul. Her website is www.berlinski.com.

Image: World Economic Forum