I was at Davos again this year, but decidedly quiet on the blogging front — I did a bit of Twittering, but for the most part was really there to focus on the topics at hand. If you didn’t make it this year don’t worry, they provided HD links to download most all the big sessions, which is pretty neat. Highlights include Putin schooling Michael Dell in the opening plenary (Number 31) “The Values Behind Capitalism” with Indra Nooyi (CEO of PepsiCo), Tony Blair, and others (Number 60), and one of the most intense sessions I’ve ever witnessed, “Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace” with Tayyip Erdogan, Amere Moussa and Shimon Peres. At the end of the spirited (read: insane) debate, Prime Minster Erdogan of Turkey, walked off the stage. Interested in geopolitics? Watch it, (Number 97).

Overall, given the financial crisis, this year was a little surreal. Unlike many of the other people, I actually left hopeful. My sessions on Creative Leadership and Youth Culture were off the record, but what I can tell you is this: There are some incredibly savvy young people moving the needle across the board, and we need more of them. We simply can’t depend on the old guard to fix things. They’re too busy looking backwards, analyzing where they screwed up in the first place to see the future. Each and every one of us will be paramount in our own way — whether it’s solving the financial crisis, climate change, or making the world as a whole a better place, it’s going to be fresh thinking and innovation that saves the day.

Whether or not they’ve ever heard of the Spice Girls, adolescent females in developing nations have more or less served as the embodiment for the phrase “Girl Power”, displaying an unparalleled ability to foster drastic socio-economic change in not only their families, but also their communities and countries. Recognizing the power of these individuals and their importance on the global landscape, the Nike Foundation and the NoVo Foundation have donated $100 million and worked in conjunction with Norfolk based Grow Interactive (designers of this site) and Portland ad agency Wieden + Kennedy to bring the world’s attention to The Girl Effect. The organization and site aims at investing resources to ensure that young girls can grow into educated women and don’t fall victim to trappings such as poverty, disease, early marriage, and pregnancy, so that they may instead focus their energies on becoming the leaders of their community and making the world a better place. The site details some startling facts as to what happens when a girl gets a chance and what happens what she doesn’t. We recommend you check it out and help fix this messy world up a bit.

Once upon a time, Barry and Levon had $240, and that bought…a lot of puddin’. But, what if they had $600? That would just be too ridiculous to comprehend. How I Spent My Stimulus takes a look at what Americans are blowing Bush’s $152 billion economic stimulus package on (note to our international readers: click here to learn more). From carabiners to train tickets, an extra few hundred dollars in the average taxpayer’s pocket opens up a whole new world of conspicuous consumption. So send in your pic or video of 600 lbs of dog food, three nights at a Westin Hotel, or, gasp, 150 gallons of gasoline. When the money is free, there’s no wrong answer.

I’ve landed in London (warm, rainy, safe) and am here for a quick weekend on my way to Davos, Switzerland for the 2008 World Economic Forum. This year’s annual meeting explores the power of collaborative innovation – five days filled with more than 2,500 invited participants from 88 countries. This includes 27 heads of state and government, religious leaders, media leaders, and pretty much leaders of, well, big deal companies. The forum has between 40 and 80 sessions everyday including everything from sessions like Myths and Realities of Private Equity, Japan: A Forgotten Power, Turkey’s Challenges, and many, many more. The whole gist of the week is obviously to get global leaders on the same page about everything from climate change to the global economy. I’ll be joining a panel on the power of social media with the International Media Council — and have no idea what to expect except for pure inspiration. I’m very humbled having been invited to such an incredible event. I’ll be updating throughout the week about my experience on Twitter, and of course, here on this blog. Any readers going (or folks who want to chat in London), drop me a line!

When the dot-com bubble burst back in 2000, we saw a few satirical looks at the whole ordeal, pointing out how preposterous it was that people thought they could sustain such an inflated stock market. Six years later, many believe we are poised to witness a bubble burst with the real estate market. Flipper Nation is a new online mockumentary that utilizes the power of viral video and a format similar to that of ‘The Office’ and ‘Best in Show’ to satirize the house ‘flipping’ craze that has engulfed the U.S. in the past few years. More than mocking the house flipping craze (which I find to be quite funny), Flipper Nation impresses me with how it is utilizing viral video strategies to reach out to large audiences– a trend the we’ll see a lot more of in the near future.