The World Economic Forum

When my wife and I took our first look at the Davos program, the most-obvious must-attend was a dinner Wednesday night prepared by chef Alice Waters (owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.), author Michael Pollan (whose In Defense of Food is currently near the top of the non-fiction bestseller lists) and a few local chefs. When we couldn't get into the computer signup system Wednesday morning, we fumed that we'd missed our chance. But no. Most people at Davos had never heard of Waters or Pollan. What was the tough ticket that night? Dinner with bestselling Brazilian author Paulo Coehlo. Now he is world famous.