In March I posted about the World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders event in Zermatt, Switzerland that I wanted to go to. Since you have to be between 20-40 years old, I could not be officially invited. But, I solicited emails from any faithful blog reader who had ideas for how I could get in.
Last week I got an email from a German journalist who was covering the event and while he said he couldn’t help me get in, he may want to do a story on the “sneak-in” if I attempted. So this past weekend, by myself, I left Zurich very early and headed to Geneva on Saturday and Zermatt on Sunday (home of Matterhorn).
When I arrived in Zermatt, and the hotel where the event was being held, it was clear security was extraordinarily tight. There were only two doors to the five star resort but tons of guards and personnel around the perimeter. There were body guards for some of the attendees. First, I tried to make contact with my German journalist contact but he wasn’t inside and my phone attempts did not work. The WEF had already turned down my request for a guest pass and a press pass (but rejected the press pass only because it was too late). A last ditch effort to just walk in with my super-cool sunglasses prompted a request for my badge, to which I responded with a confused look and walked away.
Oh well. Worth a try. I think I could have added a lot to their session on Education but if the WEF wants to discriminate against people under 20 that’s their own prerogative!
You rebel you.