A New Way to Meet People in Bucharest: Inside the 3rd Space Bucharest Launch Party

I've hosted a lot of cocktail parties.

But this was the first time I tried this format at this scale. And I'll admit it — I wasn't sure how it would land.

So I focused on one thing: make it easy for people to feel comfortable and actually connect.

Icebreakers that don't make you cringe

We started with light icebreakers. Not the awkward, stand-up-and-say-a-fun-fact kind. Just enough context so you could quickly figure out who was in the room.

Here's the part that surprised me.

At most Bucharest networking events, you end up spending the whole night with the one or two people you met first. This time, most guests connected with seven to ten people. Naturally. Nobody had to be pushed.

Five-minute stories, no slides

Then we layered in something different: shared learning.

A few guests — Alexandra Carmen Buza, Anca Constantin and Alexandru Anghel — each told a short, five-minute story. Nothing polished. No slides. Just real stories about travelling through Mexico and Cuba, and what it's actually like to start your own company.

One detail stuck with me.

I asked Alexandra what's the one thing you must do in Mexico. Her answer: visit a cenote, an underground cave lake.

I lived in Mexico. I never went to one.

I'm still thinking about that.

The best signal a party can give you

By the end of the night, one thing was clear: this format works.

People stayed. Conversations flowed. And a bunch of us hung around two extra hours talking, laughing and — eventually — singing karaoke.

That's usually a good sign.

A big thank you to Raluca Andreea Popa, Alexandra Roxana Popa-Isac, Daniel Deaconu and everyone else who showed up open, curious and willing to play along. You made the very first in-person 3rd Space Bucharest social something special.

It was the first. It wasn't the last.