Hollywood Goes to Davos
At times last week, the normally staid World Economic Forum annual meeting resembled a Hollywood movie opening or a rock concert.
A "nightcap" to meet the stars on Friday night was quickly booked solid. "I'm in trouble," says former Serbian Finance Minister Bozidar Djelic after seeing he had reached the sign-up desk too late. "I promised my staff I'd get a picture of Angelina Jolie."
Conference attendees shoved to get seats at a session where Bono of rock group U2 shared a stage with former President Bill Clinton, United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and South African President Thabo Mbeki to talk about developed nations' policy toward Africa.
Among the usual high-octane business and political elite who congregate to talk corporate strategy and diplomacy here at this Alpine ski resort, a record number of even higher-profile celebrities this year were pitching their favorite causes -- and often upstaging CEOs and heads of state. "We have been great at getting big names in business, politics and media, but not great at artists and culture figures," says Claudia Gonzalez, a WEF media handler who shepherded actress Sharon Stone and actor Richard Gere through the five-day conference. The goal: to "mix issue-driven stars with serious CEOs."
Autograph Hounds
The strategy seemed to work. The world's top capitalists were transformed into autograph hounds. CEOs hoisted their cellphone cameras to snap a quick picture.
"You see celebrities walking through here, and you see CEO heads spinning like Linda Blair in 'The Exorcist,'" says Sanford Climan, president of Entertainment Media Ventures of Los Angeles.
"As Honore de Balzac said, two things move the world: beauty and power," adds Mr. Djelic, president and founder of Altis, a Belgrade investment-banking and consulting group. "When Angelina Jolie goes to a country," he adds, "she draws a lot more attention than all the boring technocrats who are here in Davos."
As Mr. Gere left a reception, Clarisse Reille, president of Entreprise Rhone-Alpes International, a trade and investment agency for the French region, nearly fell over him as she scrambled to get his autograph. "These stars are so much more famous than CEOs," she says, claiming that the autograph was for her 10-year-old daughter.
'Charity Event'
Not everyone thought mixing in so many celebrities was a good idea. "I don't want to be hit up for money every time I attend," says Jeffrey Rodek, executive chairman of Hyperion Solutions Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif. "I donate to many causes, but I come to Davos to exchange ideas, not as a charity event."
But most corporate leaders interviewed at the meeting expressed no objection to rubbing shoulders with the stars. John Swainson, president of Computer Associates International Inc., Islandia, N.Y., recounted a "really cool discussion" with musician Peter Gabriel about how young musicians can "get lost in the current distribution system." While Mr. Gabriel's ideas won't translate into an immediate business opportunity, Mr. Swainson says his thoughts combined with other ideas could provide an opportunity for the company in the future.
Ms. Stone made the most of her Davos debut. During a debate on poverty in Africa, she popped up from the audience to pledge $10,000 to buy mosquito nets to help prevent malaria in Tanzania and challenging others in the room to follow suit. By the end of the session, some 35 executives had pledged an estimated $1 million, according to Ms. Gonzalez. "I have this philosophy that money talks and cash screams," Ms. Stone said later.
In a sign of the new-look World Economic Forum, she chose Davos instead of Hollywood to announce, in a weekend interview with The Wall Street Journal, that she and other celebrities plan to get together on Feb. 13, after the Grammy awards, to film and record a song aimed at raising money for tsunami victims -- similar to 1985 hit single "We are the World" to benefit starving Africans.
Cause or Emergency?
Bono, the Irish rock star, was well received when he shared the stage with Messrs. Clinton, Blair, Gates and Mbeki. Clad in a leather jacket, black T-shirt and sunglasses, Bono called on the West to provide aid and for its financial institutions to cancel debt owed by African nations. "I walk down the street in beautiful Davos and people say, 'Well done ... love your cause, Bono.' I don't think 6,000 Africans dying every day of preventable diseases like AIDS is a cause. It's an emergency," he said, drawing loud applause from the floor.
"Global awareness is everything," says musician Lionel Richie, another Davos participant who supports education and hunger initiatives and co-wrote "We Are the World. "It took us 10 to 12 years to raise $60 million-plus on 'We Are the World.' Now I can do $60 million with four or five great corporations together or a group of corporations or even private benefactors with the celebrity face in front of it. We can get that money in a week. It's amazing how much we can shorten the time."
好莱坞明星艳冠达沃斯
莎朗?斯通(Sharon Stone)又传出新闻了，但这次不是来自好莱坞。
在一贯较为沉静的世界经济论坛(World Economic Forum)上，莎朗?斯通在一次接受采访时激动地说，在格莱美颁奖典礼之后，她将会同其他明星在2月13日一起录制一首歌，为海啸难民筹集资金。斯通称，她参与创作的这首歌类似1985年为非洲饥民筹款的流行经典单曲《We Are the World》。“这首歌的名字将定为《Come Together Now》，我已经在上面花了一些时间了”。和她合作的明星有：克莉丝蒂娜?阿奎莱拉(Christina Aguilera)、艾瑞莎?弗兰克林(Aretha Franklin)、莱昂内而?里奇(Lionel Richie)和彼得?盖布瑞尔(Peter Gabriel)。
曾出演《本能》和其他多部影片的莎朗?斯通是在一个周末接受《华尔街日报》采访(The Wall Street Journal)时宣布这条消息的。要是在前几年，她选在达沃斯而不是好莱坞宣布这个消息一定会显得很奇怪。不过，这次世界经济论坛年会跟以往在这个高山滑雪胜地举行的达官贵人聚会有所不同，这次的达沃斯有了新的面貌：每年聚到这里商讨企业战略和外交政策的商界和政界精英们史无前例地被一群锋芒更甚的好莱坞明星抢走了不少风采，这些明星在会上不遗余力地推动去热衷的慈善事业。
其实，斯通提到的四名歌星中有两位--里奇和盖布瑞尔--也在达沃斯的街头和酒店出没，为他们自己的事业寻找支持。李察?基尔(Richard Gere)、安吉丽娜?朱丽(Angelina Jolie)、U2的主唱波诺(Bono)也是这样。
世界经济论坛的组织者称，他们今年专门花心思去吸引这些明星来参加，为的是增加一些亮点吸引众多CEO和国家元首回到达沃斯来。“我们一直都有能力邀请到商界、政界和媒体方面的大人物，但却不是很能吸引艺术和文化界的名人”，论坛一个媒体负责人克劳迪亚?冈萨雷斯(Claudia Gonzalez)说。她负责安排莎朗?斯通和李察?基尔在会议5天中的活动。这样做的目的是“让明星和严肃的CEO们来个组合”。
这个策略看来很奏效。全球顶级的资本家们都变成了索要签名的追星一族。CEO们频频举起手机摄像头抓拍明星风采。“当明星走过时，CEO们的头转得像《驱魔人》(The Exorcist)里的琳达?布雷尔(Linda Blair)”，洛杉矶Entertainment Media Ventures的总裁桑福德?克莱曼(Sanford Climan)说。
当波诺在一次会议上和美国前总统克林顿(Bill Clinton)、英国首相布雷尔(Tony Blair)、微软主席比尔?盖茨(Bill Gates)和南非总统塔博?姆贝基(Thabo Mbeki)同台讨论发达国家对非洲的政策时，大会参加者疯狂地争抢座位。另一次会议时的场面更像摇滚音乐会：很多等候进入会场的人被一根红绳和一排保镖挡在外面。
周五晚上和明星们喝一杯睡前酒的机会也很快就被预订满了。“我有麻烦了”，前塞尔维亚财政部长博日达尔?杰利奇(Bozidar Djelic)说。他赶到登记处时已经晚了。“我答应过员工要带一张安吉丽娜?朱丽的照片回去”。杰利奇是投资银行、咨询顾问团Altis的创始人和主席。他说，如果能把安吉丽娜?朱丽带回塞尔维亚首都，他的员工提出为他免费工作一年。
“正如巴尔扎克(Honore de Balzac)所说，有两样东西推动著这个世界：美貌和权力”，杰利奇说。他说，用名人来推动公益事业能提高效率，例如今年大会的突出主题--与爱滋病作战。他补充说，“安吉丽娜?朱丽去到一个国家，引来的关注远远胜过那些乏味的满嘴技术辞汇的专家，他们今天也在达沃斯这里”。
在李察?基尔要离开一个招待会时，Entreprise Rhone-Alpes International的总裁克拉丽斯?列伊(Clarisse Reille)为了拿到他的签名差点儿摔倒在他身上”。“这些明星比CEO出名多了”，她说，这个签名是专门给她10岁的女儿拿的。
但并不是每个人都觉得和这么多明星混在一起是件好事。“我不希望每次参加都有人让我掏腰包”，加州Sunnyvale的Hyperion Solutions Corp.的执行董事杰佛瑞?罗德克(Jeffrey Rodek)说。“我给很多公益事业捐款，但来达沃斯是为了交换观点，不是来做善事”。
不过，大多数在会上受访的企业领袖都表示不反对和明星接触。冠群电脑(Computer Associates International Inc.)总裁约翰?斯温森(John Swainson)回忆跟英国音乐家盖布瑞尔的一次“精彩无比的讨论”，他们讨论了年轻音乐家如何在“目前的音乐发行环境中迷失自我”。虽然盖布瑞尔的观点不会直接变成商机，但斯温森说，他的想法和其他观点结合起来有可能为公司的未来提供机会。
莎朗?斯通在一次关于非洲贫困问题的严肃讨论会上突然从听众席上站起来，打断讨论并提出捐助1万美元(合7,668欧元)来购买蚊帐，帮助坦桑尼亚人民预防疟疾，并鼓动在座的人效仿。她这一举动赢得不少支持者。据冈萨雷斯女士透露，会后约有35个总裁表示慷慨解囊，估计捐款100万。斯通后来通过电子邮件致电3000多名与会者说，“我想拯救生命。我想现在就行动，我知道你想帮助我”。她说到了1000多个回复。“我们要花一个月的时间才能数得过来”。
这些钱将捐给防治爱滋病、肺结核和疟疾国际基金(the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis)。
斯通后来说，“我的哲学是，钱能说话，现金则会尖叫”。
会议结束时，“这位荷兰银行家朋友走过来跟我说，'我能出力'，于是我就让他捐钱给坦桑尼亚人买蚊帐”，斯通说。 这位“荷兰银行家朋友”原来是荷兰合作银行集团(Rabobank Group)的执行董事休伯特斯?希姆斯科克(Hubertus Heemskerk)。
“我觉得莎朗?斯通那一刻真的很漂亮，很自然”，他说。“我们会捐赠的。我们很喜欢这个想法，因为我们目前正在将坦桑尼亚一家国有银行--国家小额信贷银行(the National Microfinance Bank)--进行私有化，所以我很乐意在蚊帐这件事上出一份力”。
爱尔兰摇滚乐星博诺和克林顿、布雷尔、盖茨和姆贝基一同出现在舞台上时也受到了热烈的欢迎。身著皮夹克和黑T恤、戴太阳眼镜的波诺呼吁西方人施以援手，并呼吁有关金融机构减免非洲国家欠的债。“当我走在达沃斯漂亮的街道上时，人们冲著我说：“干得好！”“热爱你的事业，波诺”。“我不认为每天有6000非洲人死于像爱滋病这种本可以避免的疾病是一个事业。这是危机”。波诺说。他的话随即引来雷鸣般的掌声.
在一次采访中，支持教育和缓解饥荒行动、并参与创作《 We Are the World》的里奇说，“达沃斯的明星秀如果能引起公司负责人的关注，这个策划就达到目的了。有安吉丽娜和莎朗这样的美女出现在大厅里，引得CEO们频频回头。我说，你们大饱眼福吧！”一天下来，我们的任务也完成了。
里奇说，“广泛的关注是关键。单靠《We Are the World》，我们要10到12年的时间才能筹到6000多万美元，现在四五家大企业加在一起就凑够6000万了，或者是一撮中小企业，甚至一些私人捐赠者当著明星的面掏掏腰包也够了。一个星期我们就筹到这笔钱了，节省了那么多时间，真让人吃惊。”
至于斯通，她则说在达沃斯的初次亮相让她见识到了CEO的分量。在周五的接待会上， 她还把他们称为一群“老土”。“我喜欢这个活动”，她在受访时说。“我在让这些CEO们跳出常规思维，大口呼吸氧气，尽情欢愉，把平日乏味的生活抛诸脑后，获取新鲜的气息”。她对自己说：“嘿！我感觉很棒，很有意思，还可以再来一次”。
那么在达沃斯她最喜欢遇见的是谁呢？“我觉得墨西哥前总统很有魅力，那个叫庞赛?德利昂的家伙”。斯通说的是耶鲁全球化研究中心(the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization)理事欧尼斯特?齐狄洛?庞赛?德利昂(Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon)。
至于达沃斯年会本身，斯通说，“这是我去过的最了不起的地方，明年我还想再来，不过他们得先决定让我在这儿出现是好事还是个闹剧”。
论坛负责明星事宜的冈萨雷斯女士后来说，“莎朗?斯通明年肯定还会来”。
