Want to maximise your time on dating and drinking wine? Luis Enrique takes a look at speed dating possibilities in Mendoza.
Over the last few years, the compelling blend of drink tasting and suitable ice-breaking events has proven to be quite an interesting way to meet someone to hang out with and share a nice conversation, thus making available the jumpstart usually needed when trying to find a date or merely make a friend practically from scratch.
Beyond traditions
Whenever I attempt to put the speed dating issue on the table, the long-held view arises that mendocineans are way too conservative for that to really catch on.
Among the countless objections to my enquiry, it is argued that locals often seem mostly attached to timeless traditions like nightly trips to bars in the hope of meeting somebody new, along with the classic "asados" with friends and so on.
Actually, I have heard about some speed dating events that were held locally last year, with quite a handful of attendees, yet in searching for another one coming up this time of year I constantly find myself at a loose end.
Why put it on the map
Given the current expansion Mendoza is going through as a world-class tourist destination, it´s undoubtedly in its essence to be up to date with the new tendencies as regarding visitors and their changing preferences.
To name a few reasons, the ongoing boom of expats arriving for a long visit and in a bunch of cases to stay, in line with the wine related activities going way beyond the usual trips to the many vineyards located all across the province, have lately enlightened the path towards a whole menu of business opportunities coming from abroad, which anyone would have thought to have remained unseen just a decade ago.
Keeping it casual
Speed dating is certainly unique. Once each brief date is over, after less than ten minutes, everyone keeps track of their matches on their own "date cards", thus avoiding the awkwardness of getting stuck on a boring conversation "just to be polite".
In short, it´s kind of like a face-to-face chat room to get in and out "on the go", and when the bell rings by the end of every date, you´re either relieved to move on to the next table or thrilled to find out about your potential match, so there´s pretty much nothing to lose.
Besides, you get more than five dates for the price of one, and it all happens within only an hour.
Just a few weeks ago, while doing some online research for this piece, I found out about Grape Vine Social, the UK-based creators of a refreshing combination of the classic speed dating and wine tasting events, successfully expanding from London to other British cities since 2004 (for more information on this, visit the Grape Vine Social website: www.grapevinesocial.com).
Such events may be considered as a newfound evolution of the whole speed dating concept, by merging drink-tasting parties and social networking into a suitable atmosphere in which the mood is all set for breaking the ice and making friends, thus expanding people´s range of choices when looking to start a nice conversation.
As for Mendoza, through the magic of Twitter I´ve kind of brainstormed a quick survey on local dating habits, which clearly showed that more than 60% of those who replied think that speed dating events should be hosted here in town on a regular basis, thus providing a new alternative to meet someone.
On top of that, some of the people who showed interest in attending speed dating events, and even some of those who seemed kind of skeptical about this whole thing, were sort of curious to dig deeper into the subject, which somehow denotes the striking lack of information on this topic here in the Mendoza city area, although as I pointed out above such kind of events already took place locally just last year.
Such a revealing fact should probably put aside the handful of misconceptions concerning this issue, thus showing the real challenge is now pretty much on the supply side of this growing market, where entrepreneurship is to be set in motion towards this window of opportunity raising above the business horizon.
All objections aside, there´s no reason to refrain from the speed dating experience in Mendoza city, especially when options are clearly open to combine it with traditional events usually held on a regular basis.
Resources are available: lots of wineries and vineyards, all kinds of restaurants and bars... and obviously plenty of young singles looking to meet each other.
That´s why it´s all about entrepreneurs setting their minds for taking on this task and working out their ways for it to finally catch on locally, perhaps by wisely introducing the speed dating habit into signature events such as wine tasting (like Grape Vine Social has successfully been doing in Britain) and having dinner plus drinks at the hippest bars in Aristides street, where worldwide visitors often hang out enjoying a friendly environment before calling it a night.
The moment has come to follow suit.
