Speed dating via meetup groups??

[Dougie_D]

I'm from LA and some posters have mentioned to go on link removed to look elsewhere to meet women. I'm just curious if anyone on ENA has done speed dating. Either through a meetup club or by other organizations.

 

How do they work and are they really worth the $$ and time?

[annie24]

I've done speed dating a few times. You show up, there's a little mixer beforehand. Then they had all the ladies sit at a table, and the men rotate around. They had numbers on the tables, so you go from table 1 to 2 to 3, etc... You get about 5-7 minutes with each woman before the bell rings and you have to move to the next table. For the speed date event I went to, they gave you a sheet of paper to take notes on. The next day, they asked if you wanted to be matched with anyone you met. If you and her both pick each other, then they send you an email saying, "congrats - it's a match, here's the information of the ladies who chose you." If you picked them, but they didn't pick you, or vice versa, then you don't get an email.

 

Is it worth it? ehhh.... I guess it depends. It wasn't a bad night - there were free appetizers (well, you did pay a fee to attend). I met and was matched up with a few guys, but nothing came out of it. I went to a very big, free speed dating event last year, and it was really poorly organized and a total mess and out of 30 men, 0 picked me. Which makes me wonder if there was some big technical glitch during the computer selection process (or maybe I had a giant piece of garlic in my teeth???) When I did the smaller speed dating events (like 10 men), a few picked me.

 

Organization is really key, because if it's poorly run and organized, it's just chaotic.

[DancingFool]

When I say go to meetup groups to possibly meet someone, I mean it in a more natural way of find groups/hobbies that interest you and you might meet someone there who is more like minded. You may also make friends who will introduce you, etc. It's more about expanding your horizons and social circles rather than specifically prowling for a date. There are also singles social groups where you go out to restaurants, bars, mixers, other events. Again, it's more single people socializing at large and if something clicks, great and if not, oh well. Not really specifically designed for you to come home with a number of dates lined up. Just a nice way to meet people outside of work and your friend group once you are out of college and purely social interactions become limited.

[LoveSoDeep]

I've tried both meet ups and speed dating.

 

Speed dating was fun. You meet all sorts of interesting people but I found that none of the guys there were really my type. I look young for my age and they break it up by age groups (them men older than the women...so like men 35-45 and women 30-40 for example) so I end up with all these 45 y/o guys who think I'm barely 30 drooling over me and the 35 y/o for some reason disregard me completely and go for the 40 y/o women...it's very odd. I'm not saying that happens everywhere so certainly it's worth a shot at least once. I'm sure there;s a different vibe to it in LA.

 

Meet ups...some them are for singles however again in my area I fond mostly older men...maybe that's b/c when a young on joins he gets snatched up right away. lol but either way I didn't have much luck there but it was a good way to get out and meet people.

 

I feel for you though - dating in LA was the pits! I lived there in my mid 20's and all the men were still just intent on playing the field...so I went on plenty of dates but they never went anywhere. Strangely the only one that came close was a FWB I had there. I think women there must not have been very serious either b/c guys were always surprised I wanted anything beyond a casual thing. Honestly I'd say you might have better luck with women slightly older than you. in LA the young ones are having so much fun they won't settle down easily.

[John John]

I'm curious about speed dating myself. Some people have suggested I try it. I may try it just for entertainment purposes, and if I meet someone, great! I can imagine that dating is hard in LA, it sure as hell is in NYC.

 

LSD - looking forward to our speed date in a few weeks!