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More People Using Speed Dating To Find Soul Mates

Dawg — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:36:26 +0000

The Evolving, Growing World Of Speed Dating

It all started with a concept, interestingly from a Rabbi. Yaacov Deyo came up with idea of speed dating to help Jewish people meet and marry (Wikipedia) in areas where they were minority. What he probably did not realize then was that he had revolutionized modern-day dating (Maybe he should have sought a patent?). Speed dating has not only caught on, it has been growing by leaps and bounds.

As would be expected, online speed dating would soon follow, which took the good Rabbi’s idea into cyberspace. Now, with the growth of niche dating speed dating too has been going niche. Today you will find specialized speed dating sites for tall men, animal lovers, pet lovers, vegans, karaoke, safari, and many more. Technically though, it was a niche dating method in that it began as a Jewish dating method. Maybe we should say it has gone full circle, from niche to mainstream and back to niche. Today, all manner of speed dating events exist both online and offline. Here’s an interesting story about this dating phenomenon:

IT’S NOT UNUSUAL for motorists to criss-cross lanes of early morning commuter traffic in Melbourne, Australia to fix their gaze on a bus where people are acting strangely, standing up and swapping seats every five to 10 minutes. The bus, it transpires, is on its way to a Victoria winery and, even at 8.30am, speed dating is already underway.
The Australians have become accomplished speed daters, with a growing range of options including tall-men speed dating, university-educated speed dating, toyboy speed dating and globetrotters speed dating. In the UK, everything from table football and karaoke to silent speed dating is available. In California, they have moved on to vegan speed dating.
Here in Ireland, singles’ supper clubs, speedy quiz nights, regular table-to-table speed dating, salsa for singles and singles’ countryside walks are appearing on social calendars in towns and cities. But the events remain a taboo subject among many, carrying a curious stigma that is difficult to articulate. Most participants are fearful of a public “badge of desperation” because of past perceptions of lonely-hearts columns and online chatrooms.
This, though, is not the case in one central Dublin bar on a recent Wednesday night. Thirty men and 30 women are first divided into six groups of 10, and then move from restaurant to restaurant for different courses of fine cuisine in the company of single people.
Having signed-up for the Singles Supper Safari Club weeks earlier, the paying customers wait patiently for instructions on each of the restaurants and their next team of talkers.
The logic behind the Supper Safari, organised by Singlelista.ie founder Avril Mulcahy (29), is simple: “Einstein said it’s insane to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results . . . so people are doing different things.” And she should know, having spent several years organising singles events in Australia, before winning $22,000 (€15,900) on a game show and deciding to invest it in an events company in Ireland.
Solicitors, sommeliers, band members, radio-show presenters, artists, boutique owners and business people are among the Supper Safari crowd. Some want to find a partner for life, some want to make new friends, and others simply want to boost their confidence.
At another event, in a Dublin city centre hotel earlier this year, 250 people were divided into two groups of men and women, with the women treated to fortune tellers, make-up artists, a masseuse and cocktails, while the men were entertained by a magician. Before converging in one open room, the women were given a lock chain and the men a key chain.
It’s a “bit naff”, concedes Mulcahy, but it’s designed as an ice-breaker conversation starter. If regular chit-chat fails, the option remains of salsa dancing on the main floor and regular old speed dating in another corner.
THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Conal Gallagher, a high-end landscaper in his 40s, is more accustomed to the exclusive surroundings of The Residence on St Stephen’s Green, than the basement of La Cave, shouting over Brazilian music late on a Wednesday night.
But after being coaxed into going on a Supper Safari, he embraced everything that followed. “It was great fun. I’d go every second week if it was organised,” he says. “I don’t need a date. I wasn’t looking for anything . . . this was a social enterprise, not a dating enterprise. There was no agenda and it was a brilliant night.”
Some of the participants were controlled, restricted, fearful, some divided off into city versus rural categories, some were of a “critical age” and seeking to meet someone. “It was fascinating to watch. You had some people who were clearly damaged by past experiences, lost and wanted something out of the night. And you could see them doing the process of elimination . . . while people like myself were just enjoying the night,” says Gallagher. See the full story

Indeed, one of the downsides of the way “traditional” speed dating works is that it does not work well for introverts, people who don’t open up quickly to strangers, and people of few words. I happen to be one of these people (I can write tons of words but I’m not much of a talker). Therefore, the new creative ways in which the dating events are being planned are welcome in that they do help remove much of the pressure of trying to make an impression within a few minutes. You can now attend a speed dating event just for fun, and possibly meet your soul mate too.

If you're wondering how to get started with speed dating, online speed dating is simplest way as you can "practice" online and then later attend a real-life event.

Three Top Speed Dating Questions

Dawg — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:08:15 +0000

Speed dating has certainly proven to be one of the "cooler" new methods of meeting people. This method was originally devised for the ‘real world' and it has long since moved to the online dating realm.

That is a good thing because it is one of the most unique and helpful strategies for meeting someone that is compatible with you when you have a limited amount of time to do so. Speed dating allows you to briefly converse with scores of potential mates in order to find one that may be close to your compatibility level.

Of course, knowing the right speed dating questions will always be vital because time is most definitely of the essence when you are venturing into speed dating. Again, you really do not have a lot of time to converse with someone so you need to have effective speed dating questions available that can stoke the fires of interest.

This then sets the stage for the other person to want to learn more about you which is exactly what you want from such a dating venture. In order to help at his goal, here are a few proactive speed dating questions:

"What do you do for fun?" This is, essentially, a question that gives you an insight into the hobbies and activities the individual like to pursue during leisure time. Such questions are vital to ask because they set the stage to learn about the individual's personality. Hobbies and leisure activities are often a great gateway into the ability to discover such personality traits.

"What do you do for a living?" What a person does for a living also provides a lot of insight into the individual. Now, you are not probing with such a question because you want to know how much the person earns or because one job is better than another. In reality, this question is asked because it reveals a great deal about the person.

"Have you seen anything good on the movies or on television?" You could consider this one of the slicker speed dating questions because virtually everyone will have an answer to this. Who does not watch television or go to the movies (except perhaps Warren Buffet)?

This is a question that almost always turns around and allows the other person to speak. There really are no awkward responses to such questions. And if the person does not have an answer to this, just defer back to one of the other two speed dating questions.

Those looking at these speed dating questions will notice they are very basic and simple and can be answered by anyone. Such traits are vital for those that wish to have an easy and stress free time meeting a paramour in an online speed dating environment.

Seeking your soul mate? Speed dating may be the answer! Find top-rated speed dating sites at online speed dating today.

All About Speed Dating

Dawg — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:28:39 +0000

The new popular dating method called "Speed Dating" actually started years ago in Jewish communities in the Middle East. In recent years speed dating has spread and become very popular throughout Europe and North America.

Speed daters rotate from station to station every few minutes and meet a new potential mate at each station. Each dater takes turns asking the other person at their station questions until the clock expires and then they move onto the next station. Each dater takes notes on each date so they can sort of who they do or do not want to see again after the speed dating session. At most speed dating events the woman stay at the same station for the entire session while the males move station to station to meet each woman.

Those in favor of speed dating claim it is a much better, cheaper and safer method of meeting people than going into a bar. They also point out that it is much more efficient than other dating services, such as online dating, since you meet each person face-to-face and can gather information on them quickly. Also, physical attraction is much easier to judge in person than it is simply looking at pictures online.

A unique feature of speed dating is that participants are not allowed to ask each other out directly. Only those daters that have expressed mutual interest in each other will be given contact information to get in touch with their potential mate outside of the speed dating arena. This is a plus for those people who have a hard time handling rejection since they never have to deal with it face-to-face. Of course there is a possibility that no one will be interested in seeing you again. In this case, you would leave the speed dating event feeling much worse than before the event and you'd be unlikely to attend a speed dating event in the future.

Most speed dating services charge between $25 and $60 per person. The fee normally includes a couple of free drinks or a meal or snacks. Most speed dating sessions have between 50 and 150 participants, half male and half female.

Let's say the average cost for a speed dating event is $40. Let's also assume that there will be 55 single people the opposite sex at the event. To be introduced to 1 eligible single it would cost you $0.73 ($40 divided by 55). So the cost of meeting 100 potential soul mates is about $73.00.

One negative fact of speed dating is that you are forced to spend your time on "dates" with people you are not attracted to and have no interest in wasting both your time and money. Of course it's only a few minutes and will be well worth it if you end up meeting someone special at that event.

If you do decide to give speed dating a try just be sure to follow one simple rule. No matter what happens... HAVE FUN!

Want to try speed dating? Start online, meet potential dates in the comfort of your own home and then meet at a speed dating event. Find out more at Online Speed Dating.