Around a week ago I saw an advertisement on Facebook, which was about a guy who just arrived to Budapest and wanted to meet with new people. He’s Scott Valdez, and I met up with him to discuss the ad, himself and Hungary.
SF: Why did you do this ad?
Scott: I work in internet marketing and I’ve used Facebook ads for business for some time. One day, I had an idea. I thought “wouldn’t it be funny if you could use Facebook ads to reach and meet new people when moving to a new city?” It could help you break into local social circles much faster than more traditional means of meeting people.
SF: How many people have clicked on your ad?
Scott: It was shown to local Facebook users over 2 million times and generated around two thousands clicks, which then resulted in over 200 responses. By “responses”, I mean people who have added me on Facebook, sent me a message or ‘Liked’ the advertisement.
Since I had so many new “friends” on Facebook and there’s only so much time in the day to meet people, I organized a housewarming party. It was on Wednesday but there were still around 60-70 people that came by at some point during the evening. Around 80% of them were Hungarian, and 20% were foreigners. When the police showed up at 1:30am, we had to move it to Instant Bar.
SF: Do you feel it’s hard to make friends and break into new social circles without Facebook?
Scott: No, not at all. I’m an outgoing person so I can meet with people quite easily in everyday situations, but Facebook just sped up the process… big time.
SF: What about Class FM… how did your ad show up on their page?
Scott: The girl who is responsible for Class FM’s social media responded to my ad. She thought it was a great idea, and told me she could help spread the word but putting it on their Fan Page if I wanted. I said “yes, please… that would be awesome.”
SF: Why did you come to Hungary? Why did you choose Budapest?
Scott: I became intrigued by this city while reading a novel called Prague, which is about a group of North American expatriates who were living here in Budapest right after the Cold War. Later, while helping research options for a friend’s bachelor party, I saw the Sziget music festival was being held here on the same week we were looking to schedule the bachelor party. I used that as ammunition to convince my friends to choose this city as the destination.
We were here for 6 days and we had a great tour guide who filled our week up with activities. I had such an amazing experience that I almost just decided to come back after the wedding, rent an apartment and live here.
Just weeks prior, I’d just sold about everything I’d accumulated while living in Buenos Aires, Argentina for 4.5 years, and my plan was to move to Medellin, Colombia after the wedding. Well, I almost put that plan on hold so I could just come live here, but at the very last minute I decided just to follow through on my plan and come back here later. And I did.
SF: What do you think about Hungarians?
Scott: Overall, I’ve had a very positive experience. However, at this point, I can’t say Facebook hasn’t had an influence on it. I’ve just been here a month and the Facebook ads were only shown to people who have English selected as a language they speak so I’ve mainly been exposed to what one would guess is a more educated, open, and internationally-minded subset of the population.
SF: So what about girls? Have you met anyone special?
Scott: Not yet, but there is one girl I’ve seen a few times since the party. It’s a funny story. I met her on the dance floor at Ötkert, but she told me on Facebook the next day that when she saw my profile, she realized immediately that I was the guy who had been running ads on Facebook. I have to wonder if a feeling of familiarity made her feel more comfortable when I approached her at the bar.
SF: What’s your best memory after this month from Budapest?
Scott: I had a great night at the Buda Wine Festival with a Polish girl and an American friend. The evening started out with a crazy coincidence: I ran into a guy that I played club ice hockey with at my University. We were on the ice together a few nights a week for three years, but I hadn’t seen him since he graduated. Then, we randomly cross paths near the entrance to a festival in Hungary! It is a very small world sometimes.
And, of course, the festival was pretty magical. Amazing wines at an insanely beautiful castle that overlooks one of the most amazing city views in the world… it’s hard to beat that. I tried more red wines than I care to admit, but fortunately a lot of the Hungarians there made me feel very sober in comparison.
SF: How long you would like to stay in Budapest?
Scott: I haven’t set a firm exit date yet, but I don’t like cold weather (I haven’t seen snow in years!) so I think I’ll probably head a bit further south for a while. I’m looking pretty closely at moving to Istanbul,Turkey for a few months starting in December.
Scott is a really open-minded person. He always wants to know new countries and cultures. If you want to know more about Scott, just write him on Facebook. You could be sure he will answer for you.