DAVOS OR DENIAL

Should a CEO bother with the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland-where the hype is thick, the air is thin and the opportunities for relationship building tend to trump the content? Yes, but first prepare.

Remember your first time heading off to summer camp? As you and your parents packed up your trunk and duffel bag, your whole body was flush with excitement, a combination of anticipation and dread. Would you have fun? Would you fit in?

Such apprehensions lead some CEOs to forego the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. One Fortune 500 CEO, in explaining why he had declined his invitation, at first told me he thought it was a waste of his time, that shareholders would rightfully criticize him for taking a holiday in the Swiss Alps when he should be home minding the store. Several months later, when we knew each other better, he admitted that meetings like Davos made him "uncomfortable."

Davos does strange things to some people-those who attend and those who look on from the outside imagine global conspiracies hatched behind barbed wire. One CEO of a relatively small (by Davos standards) Midwestern company was so petrified, she hired purpose-built vehicles and armed guards to chauffeur her from one end of the village to the other-only a 20-minute stroll. What was going on in her mind? Did she imagine herself on a would-be assassin's short list of international targets, sandwiched between Bono and Yassir Arafat?

But some measure of angst is understandable. Out of their element and thrust onto an international stage with no handlers, schedulers or PR flaks, even the most confident CEOs who have grown comfortable casting long shadows in their own industries can find the Davos proposition intimidating. Given the hype, perpetuated by the media (and even some attendees), it's easy to get spooked by the stories if you've never been there before. The World Economic Forum, which Swiss economist Dr. Klaus Schwab started in 1971 as the World Management Forum, has grown into a phenomenon, viewed by many as "the world's single most influential gathering of corporate chieftains and leading political figures," as The Wall Street Journal once put it. It's an invite-only event so exclusive almost nobody should feel as though they "deserve" to attend. That said, there are three simple reasons to attend-for shareholders, for society and for yourself.

* Your shareholders. While activist shareholders may be right about some CEOs that boondoggle, if things are going well at home, a week away on business is unlikely to raise eyebrows. If things are not going well, then Davos is the least of your problems. On the flip side, thanks to the close quarters and flattened hierarchy, you should be able to have at least 10 important meetings that would take the better part of a year to schedule at home.

* Society. Even critics have to admit that some of "Davos Man's" outsized ego is well-earned. The annual meeting has been the catalyst for societal improvement. It is credited with kicking off such initiatives as the Disaster Resource Network, developed in response to the 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India. It served as the launch pad for rock star Bono's global Product Red brand, benefiting the fight against AIDS in Africa. At the 2006 meeting, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Bill Gates launched the Global Plan to Stop TB. By attending, you have an opportunity to participate in setting the global agenda and effect change on a level greater than your own company or industry.

* You. Davos relationships can open doors to new business and even personal opportunities. It's a networking opportunity like no other-a uniquely intimate environment where the director of a nonprofit can converse easily with the chairman of a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, where dignitaries chat with celebrities, and where I found myself, in the span of a day, alternately standing at the urinal next to Bill Gates and Nelson Mandela. There's nothing wrong with a little self-interest while making an effort to help change the world.

A word of caution: WEF is sometimes burdened by its own multiculturalist intentions. The belief is that world differences arise from "misunderstandings" that can be overcome by "dialogue." Expect to encounter a number of "Davos Men" (and women) who tout a touching faith in "global dialogue." Yet they seem to "dialogue" a lot more than they "do." This is too often echoed by the film stars and members of the chattering classes who attend. I'd give them a miss and trust that the heavy media coverage will ensure that you hear anything truly silly and amusing they say.

Also, my chance run-ins aside, headliners such as Bill Gates, George Soros and Bill Clinton are seen primarily in plenary sessions with 700 people in the audience and on official receiving lines and rarely mix with other participants.

How to Work Davos

You want to go to Davos prepared to make it, at the very least, a week well spent. First-timers, for example, generally underestimate the number of business cards needed (one is forever exchanging). Owing to increasing delays due to greater security, expect a lot of queuing when shuttling between hotels and the Congress Hall. Here are a few other simple tips: