20140124_CN

Source: CNBC

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101361600

Date: 24/01/2014

Event: Davos global warming panel: "I looked around... and saw a lot of empty seats"

Attribution: CNBC

People:

• Jeff Cox: Finance Editor, CNBC

[CNBC's Jeff Cox: Davos 2014: Roundup of big events]

Jeff Cox: Well, one learns a lot of lessons, here at Davos. And one of the lessons that I learned this week is that if you're not an actual rock star, then sometime you are not [makes speech-marks gesture] a "rock star", even though maybe you think you are. I attended a panel earlier here today that was about global warming, and it featured a couple of pretty heavy hitters, or so I thought - Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former Vice-President Al Gore.

Now Gore, to my understanding, is a hero to the environmental left, and Bill Gates, of course, is a hero to the latent nerd in all of us, so you would have expected a lot of interest in that panel. Now, I looked around as I was watching them speak, and saw a lot of empty seats. Now you contrast that to earlier this week, when I covered a Matt Damon event - it was packed. Bono did an event earlier today - big attendance - on how to shape the future. The thing today with Gore and Gates, not so much.

So I guess the lesson to be learned here is that, in addition to the whole rock star thing - which, of course, Bono is an actual rock star - kind of depends on who you are and what you're saying. And it looks like - in this particular conference - sorry, Bill and Al, it's either not the right place for you, or maybe not the right crowd.