by Michiko Shiraishi
The phenomenon is the same here; singles seem to get restless as Valentine's Day approaches. In recent years, matchmaking events called “speed dating” have been attracting busy New Yorkers who want to find a date in a more effective and safe environment.
What is Speed Dating? It is a formalized matchmaking process where singles are rotated to meet each other over a series of dates for less than 10 minutes. After the event, participants submit to the organizer a list of whom they want to provide their contact information to. If there is a match, the organization sends contact information to both parties. The key to its popularity seems to point to its simple registration process on the internet. Also, the fact that participants can meet many candidates without dealing with persistent suitors is a plus, too.
In late January, a Speed Dating event took place in a bar in Manhattan. Its organizer was “8minuteDating,” a leading company in its field. It guarantees that participants meet at least 8 dates each lasting for 8 minutes. Some events are targeted for specific groups according to their ethnicity, hobbies and etc, but this event was simply for single professionals, with an age range of 30-41 for male and 29-38 for female. Since it doesn't run a background check, however, any person who is confident about fitting in the targeted group could technically participate.
For the event, 18 male and female participants who had paid the fee ($40) on the internet showed up. Angela with “8minuteDating” who served as a moderator gave brief instructions like “Don't ask contact information,” “After I clink the glass, gentlemen will move to the next table,” “Don't forget to keep the score.” Then, the dating started.
Some participants who had looked nervous were actively engaged in a conversation. For the next one hour and a half; “What do you do?” “Where are you from?” “Do you have siblings?” “Have you come to the event before?” questions like those were echoing all over the room.
I interviewed a few participants. Dawn, who came to the event for her first time, declared her New Year's resolution was to find a boyfriend. After the event, she said she was happy about coming to the event. “You can tell if you like the person or not in 8 minutes. I've checked two guys but I'll sleep it over till I send the score tomorrow,” she said. Robert said “It's less stressful than asking a woman out at a bar. The fee is not cheap, but it's a good system for shy guys.” Michelle who came with a friend admitted that it was exhausting to have 8 dates in a row. “What am I going to do? I'm actually attending another event next week and there I'll repeat 4-minute dates more than 10 times!” she laughed.
Michiko Shiraishi
Reporter
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