Last Tuesday we sent the Singles Crew to a speed dating event at Cabaret West Glen, hosted by online dating site Cupid.com. Seven guys and seven girls were paired up (it was supposed to be eight, but two were no-shows), then rotated every six minutes, giving them a brief window of time to get to know each other. The crew members said they had a good time and enjoyed the bar's drink specials in between meetings, but wished for a higher turnout. The next event, for people age 22-36 will be April 28 at Cabaret West Glen. Go to cupid.com to sign up.
How it worked:
Each guy was paired up with a girl, and after their time was up, a bell alerted them to move to the next person. Afterward, they each got an e-mail asking if there was anyone they would like to meet again. If that person also expressed interest, they would be able to e-mail each other.
Ratings:
Each crew member rated the event on a scale of 1-10 based on how good the event was for meeting potential dates.
Jocelyn
"You don't know anything about these people at all, so you're kind of starting from scratch," she said. "There were a couple of guys I would have wanted to talk to for more than six minutes."
She said the price ($35) was not worth it, since she only met four guys. "They need to work on the marketing of the event, and liven things up a little," she said. "Honestly, a lot of people might be into it if they knew about it." Jocelyn said she'd try it again.
Rating: 5
Brandon
Despite only meeting five other women, Brandon said everyone he talked with was pretty interesting. He said the benefit of being able to use cupid.com for a month makes the price worth it.
"I don't think you'll meet that person that you'll fall head over heels in love with at speed dating," he said. "But I think it gives you the opportunity to meet somebody you may have not met before and then continue to converse with them."
Rating: 8
- Dylan
Dylan agrees with Jocelyn that the event would have been better if the participant pool was larger. "I think the idea of speed dating is good," he said. "You know that the other person is looking to potentially date someone so there really is no pressure and you're not having to guess the other person's thoughts in that sense." Dylan said he wouldn't pay the money to do it again, though. "It was fun and I'm glad I did it, but it's not really my thing," he said.
Rating: 3
Jake
The atmosphere was relaxed and good for conversation, Jake said. However, "I believe, and have talked to my other single friends, and we all agree more people would do it if it wasn't so much money," he said. Jake said he didn't meet anyone he would potentially date.
Rating: 1
- Amy
"I'm not a fan of the whole 'blind dating' thing," she said. "I personally would rather take the $35 and use that towards drinks at a bar and spend six minutes talking to people I had more of an initial interest in or attraction to."
Amy said the night wasn't horrible, but it wasn't for everyone. She did relay a funny story, however: "I had a group of guys that were at the bar (not for speed dating) send me over a shot in the middle of talking to one of the speed daters."
Rating: 2.5
