CONTEXT
International governmental, business and cultural leaders came together in Davos to explore ways of alleviating the current international economic crisis and entering the “Post-Crisis World”. Some 2,500 participants from 96 countries, including 41 Heads of State, attended the conference.

LOCATION
This small ski resort was locked down for days ahead of the World Economic Forum. Out on the streets,
pedestrians just in from New York, Beijing or London sought to avoid an undignified slip on the icy pavement. During Davos week, getting a hotel room nearby was almost impossible. Many stayed in apartments, or found accommodation in nearby towns. Eurovision staff stayed in an asthma clinic across the street from the venue.
The conference site itself became a fortress, corralled inside chain fencing and walls intended to shield the wealthy and powerful from prying eyes and unwelcome guests. As one correspondent put it, the narrow stairwells led down into a nuclear bunker temporarily reconditioned as a cramped media center from which large unmarked white doors could just as easily lead you into a conference room as a chemical toilet! But for the business delegates gathered here for the week, Davos was a corporate “Green Zone”.

OPERATION
> Host broadcaster for press conferences
> Live distribution of four simultaneous host signals, each in 16/9 and 4:3
> Live streaming services to broadcasters and media platforms
> Broadcast quality MP4 downloads and low resolution preview of daily highlights on www.weforum.org and www.eurovision.net
> Six satellite paths, two SD and one HD fiber on to FiNE
> One studio multi-camera with VT roll-ins, teleprompter and plasma screen for programme animation
> Four ENG crews
> Three edit rooms

RESULT
For the first time at the Forum, we provided High Definition transmissions and live streaming of the entire event.
More than that, the Davos operation was complex with a wide range of services provided to media, corporate and government entities, as well as our traditional broadcast community. Corporate bosses were interviewed by broadcasters around the world, as well as communicating directly back to their own staffs. NGO leaders also took advantage of this golden opportunity to get their arguments into the news agenda.