In the past two weeks, I've attended regional World Economic Forums in South Africa and East Asia.

When you commit that kind of time to such events, a few questions come to mind:  is it worth it?  For that matter, are WEF's worth it at all?

I don't mind saying that I've heard opinions on both ends of the spectrum and in between. My opinion: not only are the WEF's worth it, they are irreplaceable.

The make-up of the WEF is ...