When I first heard about ‘Ladies Brunch’, I was reminded of a saying by the writer Henry Boye: “The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway”, that I had been told a couple of weeks before arriving in Argentina. And Ladies Brunch seems to be one of the easiest way to ease yourself into Buenos Aies life, meeting both Argentines and foreigners.
The concept is simple. Almost every month between 20 and 30 women, who usually don’t know each other, meet in a restaurant for a Sunday brunch. In a jovial and friendly atmosphere, they introduce themselves, talk about their personal life, their jobs, their travels and briefly, the reason why they are all there. Shortly after I arrived at my first brunch, I quickly realised that all those women attending shared the same aim as me. Good. I seemed to be at the right address then.
I still had to find out who was behind this idea and the name that came up was Marina Ponzi. I had dropped her an email two hours before I went to the meeting point in order to know if I could join the group. Her response had been immediate: yes. This 26-year-old Argentine, who studied communication in Buenos Aires and then travelled for a while before she came back to her native country, decided to launch Ladies Brunch in September last year. “I discovered this concept in Madrid. A girl used to organise a brunch every two weeks. I found the idea interesting because it was a great way to meet friends and so, I decided to import it here.”
In one night, Marina wrote a blog where she explained everything about Ladies Brunch and sent invitations to a bunch of girls (friends and some random people) via Facebook and Twitter. The first event was a success with between fifteen and twenty women replying.
Marina explains the ‘girls only’ concept: “To my mind, it’s more a feminine thing. Usually, I tend to meet more men than women, probably because women don’t hold a conversation easily. They need more time to trust people. That’s why I wanted to give them the opportunity to meet.”
So far, four brunches have taken place and every time the numbers grow – at the last one, thirty women joined Marina.
The only concern remains the venue. Each event takes place in a different restaurant, which is a brain teaser as it’s not an easy task to find a place where a group of thirty people can fit. So that time, when we realized that we could not eat on the terrace – where the event was meant to be – because of the rain, we started searching for some room inside the restaurant. At that point, the organisation of tables and chairs turned into a life-size version of the game Tetris.
But once this episode was sorted out, everybody sat down and enjoyed the brunch. While the waiters were bringing baskets of bread, plates of cheese, pies, salads, etc, the group started chatting. I rapidly met women from different backgrounds, different cultures and different countries, as well as many Argentines. I learnt even more about them when business cards started to spread all over the table. International trade consultant, journalist, writer, marketing executive, architect, specialist in tea, market analyst, pastry cook, doctor, film maker, students…
“I wanted to organize more than a traditional meeting. Also, I don’t think that the concept of Ladies Brunch could last long if it was only a meal. I constantly need to find new ideas to make it growth. That’s why I decided to turn it into a business networking lunch,” explained Marina.
At the brunch I had only expected to make some casual acquaintances, but after four hours I had made some extremely useful contacts. I left with new articles ideas, some new people to interview for my stories, tips on travelling in Argentina, some new friends, some cookies brought by one of the girls and… a $75 bill. The price is not cheap but if you want to enjoy a good lunch (drinks included) and build up your personal directory, it’s definitely worth it.
The next Ladies Brunch will be on Sunday 7th March. For more information, visit: http://ladiesbrunch.com.ar Booking is required.
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