• Several weeks ago I had dinner with a friend who informed me that a mutual acquaintance made thousands of dollars by promoting an event to fellow Ivy League alumni (plus a few other “select” schools).  My jaw dropped; that’s a lot of money for one night earned by someone who lives on the other side of the country!
• A month ago I attended The Whitney Art Party, an exceedingly fabulous affair attended by the likes of Ivanka Trump (!) and held in a ginormously gorgeous event space that just so happens to be owned by a friend of mine.
• And, a couple of weeks ago I attended an event hosted by Troutman Sanders for the book Womenomics.  There were passed hors d’oeuvres!  There was a trio playing live music!  There was an open bar!  (Cari, our summer associate, admitted to me this afternoon about that event:  “I thought it was a bit stuffy.  ‘Oh, no; is this what the rest of my life is going to be like?’ I was worried!”)

These were all very, very seductive experiences that made me want to throw a shiny, glossy, fabulous dinner event replete with ultra-fabulous giveaways from sponsors, a paparazzi-worthy crowd, and why not a harpist or two?!

Of course, what happened instead reminded me why I started DinnerGrrls.org in the first place, and why I’m so glad I’m doing it all over again:

• We had some yummy — if not occasionally perplexing (”What is this, exactly?”) — vegetarian and vegan-friendly pizza
• We met a bunch of other interesting women in a low-key, friendly environment
• There was no pretense, no stuffiness, no drama, and no pressure

No, there was no red carpet.  Yes, I had to kill the idea of a live musician and instead we went with an iTunes playlist on my MacBook Pro.  And no, there were no fabulous sponsor giveaways.

But yes, we had a chance to talk about what we’re looking for, what we’re doing, who we think we are and who we think we want to become.  So yes, last night’s dinner party was definitely something that any authentic schmoozing posse would be proud of.

And we only lost a few hundred bucks!  Which, given that we’re the antithesis of “Exclusive Ivy-ish Parties That Make Thousands Of Dollars For The Promoters”, is worth every penny if you ask me.

• Peek at our full event album on Flickr by clicking here
• Read about next Thursday’s girl-empowerment event by clicking here

Thank you to the women who attended last night.  Thank you to all of you who were there in spirit.  And thank you to Cari for pulling it all together with such savoir-faire.

Other credits include Judy Chan, our photographer, and comradistas-in-sign-in Caroline, Maritza, and Daisy.

xoxo