Bringing the world to Davos with the "Davos Debates" on YouTube

Contact: Matthias Lüfkens, Associate Director, Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212 – matthias.luefkens@weforum.org

Geneva, Switzerland, 15 December 2008 - The Forum has chosen to open the debates on the key issues facing our world today to the general public. YouTube users are invited to send in their solutions and suggestions for the key issues facing us today such as the state of the economy, the environment, US politics and business ethics. The four questions for public discussion are

Are you confident that global growth will be restored in 2009?
Will the environment lose out to the economy in 2009?
Will the Obama administration improve the state of the world in 2009?
Should company executives have a code of ethics similar to doctors and lawyers?

The best videos uploaded to www.youtube.com/davos will be screened in key sessions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 allowing direct interaction between the general public and the leaders gathered in Davos. These sessions will be webcast live on the Forum’s website and on demand on the Forum’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/worldeconomicforum.

All participants at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 can watch the responses to the Davos Debates and are encouraged to reply directly to the videos submitted at a special YouTube video recording booth set up for this purpose in the Congress Centre in Davos. At the Annual Meeting 2008, approximately 200 participants uploaded videos, including Henry Kissinger and Shimon Peres. The YouTube Davos Channel hosting last year’s initiative has been visited over 400,000 times to date.

This year, for the first time, the person who submits the best video will be invited, all expenses paid, to attend the upcoming Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters and interact with world leaders in person. The YouTube user, chosen by the YouTube community, will cover the Annual Meeting as a “citizen reporter” and post coverage of the discussions on YouTube.

The Forum on other Social Networking sites:
Become a fan of the Forum on Facebook www.weforum.org/facebook
Join the Forum’s Facebook group www.weforum.org/facebookgroup
Befriend the Forum on MySpace www.myspace.com/worldeconomicforum
Design the programme of the Open Forum on our Wiki www.forumblog.org/openforum
Follow the Forum on Twitter http://twitter.com/davos
See the best pictures from the Annual Meeting on Flickr www.weforum.com/photos
Watch the plenary sessions live on the Forum’s website at www.weforum.org/videos
Put your questions to the panellists of the press conferences on Mogulus (www.mogulus.com/worldeconomicforum) and Qik (http://qik.com/worldeconomicforum). Watch the pre-Davos press conference on 21 January at 11.00 CET.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)

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