Davos Diary: Nocturnal networking (A user’s guide)

A member of staff removes snow during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos where the networking never stops. (Reuters)

DAVOS: Covering Davos is, of course, an incredibly grueling bout of intellectual activity, with formal sessions at the Congress Hall beginning at 8 a.m. and running well into the evening.
If you add a breakfast brief to that, it becomes very demanding on the grey matter. So at the end of the day, some recreation and relaxation is in order.
But even the down time is an opportunity to meet interesting and influential thinkers from around the world.
Most of that interaction occurs in the area of streets, hotels bars, cafes and shops extending from the Congress Hall along the Davos Promenade. It is an amazing, if rather bizarre, place.
Once you get outside the tight security cordon that surrounds Congress, Weffers seem to noticeably let their hair down.
Maybe it is the relief of knowing that you will no longer be required to virtually strip naked in sub-zero temperatures for the very thorough security checks, maybe it is just the realization that you have made it to the end of another day, but the atmosphere by the Reuters HQ just outside the ring of steel is very different.
Stroll, slither or slide down the Promenade, past rows of neon-lit corporate hubs — Facebook and Google vie for the trendiest facade — and you arrive at the Belvedere Hotel, which is probably the epicenter of the Davos experience.
The Belvedere is taken over by the “masters of the universe” for the duration of the annual meeting, and is really a forum within the forum. Some veteran Weffers believe that there is no need to attend the formal sessions in the Congress at all, because the top VIPs will all head to the Belvedere at some stage.
After the Belvedere, the first stop on the right-hand side of the Promenade is the Aberdeen Standard cafe, famous for the kilted Scottish piper who stands outside and who must surely be the coldest man in Davos.
The cafe is a hallowed tradition at the WEF, and it hosts perhaps the best media event in the town, with the creme-de-la-creme of world news in attendance. A must stop.
From the cafe, turn right, and the world is your oyster. Every shop has been taken over by a WEF participant, so you can make your way down the Prom via the Russia House and the nearby Ukraine center.
The stretch between there and the Morisani hotel — another Davos landmark — offers all the fun and networking you could desire, but should be treated with caution. If you have to go back to Klosters — as I do — there is a very long walk back to the Congress, and another strip search, before you get to the shuttle that will (hopefully) take you home.