About the Executive Women’s Luncheon

On March we launched a new event series Executive Women’s Luncheons. The first lunch apparently took place at the Nordic Hotel Forum with champagne, delicious food and a great speaker. I resisted the temptation to put on a dress and attempt to gain entry but I'm told that more than thirty women came together and the feedback was very positive. Nearly all the participants mentioned how come we haven’t had these lunches earlier! Good question!

Our keynote speaker was Mrs Marina Kaljurand, who is the Undersecretary of Economic Affairs and Development Cooperation at Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the moment. Of course she is better known as the ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Russian Federation (since 3 February 2006) who was put under some pressure during the bronze soldier affair. She talked about her personal experience and what, in her views, it takes for a woman to aim high.

I should point out that the mission of these events is not to start a feminist movement but mainly to offer opportunities for business networking and also mutual support and mental stimulation - 4 times a year.

March Monthly Mingle - South-African breeze in snowy Tallinn

With the forthcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup we decided to dedicate the March monthly mingle to South-Africa and had a healthy turnout of more than 70 participants.

We were exploring South-Africa as a travelling destination and a country to do business with. Accompanied, of course by some very good South-African wines. Our event partners were South-African Embassy in Helsinki and Kaleva Travel who recently moved to beautiful new premises in Baltika Kvartal. It was the fashion stage of the Baltika Kvartal where our sparkling Mingle took place.

After short speeches, including one from the South-African Ambassador Sobizana Mngqikana and Merike Hallik from Kaleva Travel, it was time to socialize and meet all these new faces. The German-Baltic Chamber was our mingling partner this time which I suppose is only natural as Germany is the main trading partner of South-Africa in Europe. It'll be a shame to beat them both on the way to the final this Summer!

After two hours active mingling we had an exclusive opportunity to do late shopping with great discounts in the Baltika’s Fashion Street. Once again, I got lost after the mingle, this time finding myself in a cigar bar with one of the more vocal Southern Africans to reside in this fair city ... but that's another story

Thanks go to Agnes and Petriina, for organizing another great Monthly Mingle!