Is there a more impractical location than Davos for a global summit attended by a smorgasbord of the world’s most influential business elite, political leaders, academics humanitarians and media? I considered this very point as I stepped off the train at Davos Dorf train station and promptly slipped over into a pile of snow.

Lesson one for a first timer at Davos: wearing anything other than crampons or snow boots when you’re halfway up a mountain is at best impractical and, at worst, downright dangerous!

Officially the highest town in Europe, Davos is a little over 90 miles from Zurich. Most of the year, it's filled with skiers and walkers. But for one week in January, this breathtakingly beautiful location becomes the home of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The WEF began life in 1971 when Professor Klaus Schwab and the University of Geneva gathered European business leaders to talk about global management practices and how to catch up with U.S. rivals. Today, the conference hosts more than 3,000 participants, including 900 CEOs and company chairs and 70 world leaders.

So, what am I doing here? Well, I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend as a guest of Tradeshift, who recently selected my organisation, Allison + Partners, as its communications partner in the U.S. and the UK.

Tradeshift CEO Christian Lanng admits that like many people when he first heard about Davos, he wrote it off as a “talking club” for big businesses.

How could it be relevant to a startup whose culture was driven by “moving fast and breaking things”, not bureaucracy?

An invitation to a WEF meeting in Southeast Asia caused Christian to have a change of heart. He admits he had an ‘epiphany’ that a good deal of the people there were genuine, and really wanted to use the World Economic Forum’s network to create positive world change.

Today, Christian describes Davos as: “…a unique opportunity for the global business community to engage with influential technology leaders, disruptors, and visionaries.”

For the past three years, Christian and his team have taken up residence in a local church, transforming it into the ‘Tradeshift Sanctuary,’ and hosting a series of thought leadership debates in partnership with CNBC.

The Sanctuary is located outside of the so-called ‘secure zone’ where the main conference takes place and is part of a vibrant fringe, which has grown over the years. Walk along the main boulevard of Davos, and you’ll see local restaurants turned into meeting spaces for technology companies, souvenir shops commandeered by global investment banks, and hotel lobbies transformed into cafes by regional development organisations.

Each of these venues throngs with an incredible mix of people, from entrepreneurs and NGOs to artists and CEOs. They’re great places to meet new people, strike up a conversation and share ideas with people you might never meet otherwise.

Many companies who attend the conference also put on dinners and drinks to provide a networking opportunity for fellow attendees. Some of these are private, but many have an open-door policy. You can gain access to these venues, as well as the fringe events by applying for a ‘hotel pass,’ which costs around £50. Unlike the main conference tickets, which are invite-only, anyone can apply for one of these passes, subject to a security check.

Securing yourself a bed for the night can be a little trickier, however. Accommodation is at a premium in Davos, and it tends to be booked up at least a year in advance. A lot of people stay an hour or so outside of Davos in one of the nearby resorts, where accommodation is a little more available (and certainly cheaper).

However, be warned, evenings go late in Davos so wherever you’re staying, don’t expect to get a lot of sleep.

Think of Davos as a festival for business people. Glastonbury in suits if you like, with snow boots replacing wellington boots as the must-have fashion accessory.

Your pass might not grant you access to the ‘main stage,’ but the fact that you don’t get to see Macron waxing lyrical on his vision for the future takes nothing away from the value of attending.

My own experience of Davos was of an event far more open than many of the trade shows and conferences I have attended in the past.

I listened to speeches from some of the world’s most inspiring CEOs talking about the future of AI, learnt how blockchain is disrupting the supply chain, and returned to the UK with a pocketful of business cards from CEOs, entrepreneurs, journalists and investors.

Still not convinced?

I’ll leave the final words to Christian Lanng: “Most of the real innovation is happening in small companies where even the idea of going to Davos would be seen as preposterous, but we need you – the visionaries, the misfits and the innovators, the ones that are breaking down the barriers of what’s possible to participate in the discussion and show why the future is a great (not scary) place.”

Post produced in partnership with Harry Ronaldson, VP at Allison and Partners

Harry can be reached using the following email Harry.Ronaldson@allisonpr.com