Working at the World Economic Forum

Last night at 2:00 am I concluded literally the longest workweek of my life getting ready for and supporting the trip of a Senior Advisor from the White House to the World Economic Forum in Jordan. The WEF is a sister-conferencef to Davos (they have the big meeting in Switzerland and then similar meetings in 5 regions).

The week had some highs and lows. Watching media coverage of Davos it seems glamorous - in practice it was less so - yes there is something intriguing about getting coffee at the same time as the President of Slovakia (Slovenia - one of them) - but mostly it was just really crowded without enough seats or coffee.

I did however get to ride in King Abdullah's helicopter - which is WAY nicer than the military helicopter I had ridden in previously. It still doesn't feel natural the way a helicopter lurches off the ground but comfy seats, wood paneling, cup holders and mints made it seem nicer. Unfortunately, our trip was cut short by poor visibility from dust that covered everything and after about 10 minutes of flying south towards Petra, the pilot turned around. We had been flying next to pretty big hills and I felt like if the pilot thought it was unsafe (or that we could get caught in a worse dust storm in Petra and not be able to fly out) it was probably better not to be flying.

Over the weekend, I got to make small talk with not one but TWO princes. Stephanie had once complimented me on my ability to make small talk with nearly anyone. Princes, are well trained in diplomacy and go to a lot of receptions, so they put even my passable small talk skills to shame - and were delightful and charming.

I also had the King smile at me as he walked past me down the hallway. Or he was smiling maybe it wasn't at me but he seemed nice.

At one point I was sitting outside a hotel ballroom waiting to talk to a WEF staffer. At the same time, Their Majesties were giving a speech inside the ballroom. A journalist also waiting in the hallway came up to me and asked if I was with Her Majesty. I laughed and said no but attributed it to my really nice pink jacket (or perhaps the inexplicability of not going into the session).