Speed dating at Southern Cross Bar (26th June 2008)
Remember sometime back I went to a singles only event? Well, well, guess what else I found that's happening in Wellington...SPEED DATING! Ah-ha, don't you even think it - no, I'm not on the prowl for a man but I am curious what speed dating is all about (plus I see no harm in getting to know a few more people in Wellington) so Kalwant and I signed ourselves up for a speed dating event at Southern Cross Bar & Restaurant organised by Numbers Speed Dating.
So how does it all work, you ask? First, you need to sign up from the website where you will be emailed a page long questionnaire to complete. Upon returning the questionnaire to the organiser, you will then be informed of the next speed dating event and receive an invite to attend. The choice is yours to accept the invite or not.
At 6.30pm, I met Kalwant outside Southern Cross. We were the first people to turn up so after paying our $30 fee (yes, there's a fee to pay if you attend the event) and given our numbers (I was #1 and her #2) as well as stickers for our names, we headed to the bar to get a drink. Two of us were scanning around the perimetre to see who were the likely attendees to the event. Hmm...so far no cute guy within view...continue scanning...
The event officially started at 7pm. 10 chics and 10 lads where placed in pairs scattered around the private function room - some had the small dining tables and chairs, some on comfy couches. Each pair had 5 minutes of 'air-time' with one another and when the time was up, each of us would note on our given sheets whether girl/guy #whatever was a yes/no. The whole point of the exercise of putting a yes/no was so that at the end of the night, if a pair both had a 'yes', the organiser would then send you the respective emails so they can get in touch, if they wanted to.
What I thought was really cool was that the boys had to move when the time was up, making the girls felt as if we had the upper-hand. I felt sorry for some of the guys I spoke with - it was as if I was interviewing them as they took their seat and I went "so, tell me about yourself". There was a break in between for us to grab a drink before continuing on with the next 5 introductions.
There was this guy who was trying to get on Kalwant's good side - unfortunately Kalwant and I were hanging out at the bar together during the interval so the poor guy had to buy both of us a drink. Hehe...thanks Kalwant :P Psst, he seems like quite a nice guy (hint, hint)...
I wonder what the other people in the bar were thinking seeing a bunch of us 20-30 somethings in a private event...Interesting? Curious? Disgust? Desperation??? I didn't care - I was just out having some fun :)
Back into the room and 5 more guys to 'interview'. As the introductions continued on, I started to forget what I've said to whom - obviously hearing myself repeating my introductions way too many times to the point I've lost track. Some of the guys I met were probably younger than I was, and I'm not surprised some have never dated in their life. A majority of them were somewhat geeky in terms of their attire and talked way too much about themselves or how they excel at work etc. to a point I started to wonder if they were interested in getting to know someone new or really just themselves. I met one who has never travelled on a plane i.e. never travelled, EVER. Oh dear...A few of them were somewhat shy and hardly talked so I had to keep prompting them to say something. They may think I'm bossy or extroverted but hey, sitting there for 5 minutes in silence can get very uncomfortable, you know. On the up side, there were some who were able to hold an interesting conversation during the whole 5 minutes making the time seem to pass by too quickly. There were several lookable blokes around but I'm not one who makes a judgment call on the basis of looks - there's more to that when getting to know someone.
So at the end of the night, I only had 2 guys of the 10 that I was interested to know more of but only one of them had a 'yes' for me so my $30 and night out got me only 1 contact. Kalwant had 6! It was not a numbers game of who got more - we just had different choices. What happens after this is still a huge question mark - will the guys get in touch? I have no clue but we'll just have to wait and see.
I'm not sure how many of us were seriously there to look for a potential partner but all in all, it was an interesting experience well worth giving it a try. Would have been better if we all got a drink at the start as part of the $30 cost. It was a safe and neutral environment to get to know random strangers and who knows, you may actually end up finding your partner in the next event! You'll never know...
So how does it all work, you ask? First, you need to sign up from the website where you will be emailed a page long questionnaire to complete. Upon returning the questionnaire to the organiser, you will then be informed of the next speed dating event and receive an invite to attend. The choice is yours to accept the invite or not.
At 6.30pm, I met Kalwant outside Southern Cross. We were the first people to turn up so after paying our $30 fee (yes, there's a fee to pay if you attend the event) and given our numbers (I was #1 and her #2) as well as stickers for our names, we headed to the bar to get a drink. Two of us were scanning around the perimetre to see who were the likely attendees to the event. Hmm...so far no cute guy within view...continue scanning...
The event officially started at 7pm. 10 chics and 10 lads where placed in pairs scattered around the private function room - some had the small dining tables and chairs, some on comfy couches. Each pair had 5 minutes of 'air-time' with one another and when the time was up, each of us would note on our given sheets whether girl/guy #whatever was a yes/no. The whole point of the exercise of putting a yes/no was so that at the end of the night, if a pair both had a 'yes', the organiser would then send you the respective emails so they can get in touch, if they wanted to.
What I thought was really cool was that the boys had to move when the time was up, making the girls felt as if we had the upper-hand. I felt sorry for some of the guys I spoke with - it was as if I was interviewing them as they took their seat and I went "so, tell me about yourself". There was a break in between for us to grab a drink before continuing on with the next 5 introductions.
There was this guy who was trying to get on Kalwant's good side - unfortunately Kalwant and I were hanging out at the bar together during the interval so the poor guy had to buy both of us a drink. Hehe...thanks Kalwant :P Psst, he seems like quite a nice guy (hint, hint)...
I wonder what the other people in the bar were thinking seeing a bunch of us 20-30 somethings in a private event...Interesting? Curious? Disgust? Desperation??? I didn't care - I was just out having some fun :)
Back into the room and 5 more guys to 'interview'. As the introductions continued on, I started to forget what I've said to whom - obviously hearing myself repeating my introductions way too many times to the point I've lost track. Some of the guys I met were probably younger than I was, and I'm not surprised some have never dated in their life. A majority of them were somewhat geeky in terms of their attire and talked way too much about themselves or how they excel at work etc. to a point I started to wonder if they were interested in getting to know someone new or really just themselves. I met one who has never travelled on a plane i.e. never travelled, EVER. Oh dear...A few of them were somewhat shy and hardly talked so I had to keep prompting them to say something. They may think I'm bossy or extroverted but hey, sitting there for 5 minutes in silence can get very uncomfortable, you know. On the up side, there were some who were able to hold an interesting conversation during the whole 5 minutes making the time seem to pass by too quickly. There were several lookable blokes around but I'm not one who makes a judgment call on the basis of looks - there's more to that when getting to know someone.
So at the end of the night, I only had 2 guys of the 10 that I was interested to know more of but only one of them had a 'yes' for me so my $30 and night out got me only 1 contact. Kalwant had 6! It was not a numbers game of who got more - we just had different choices. What happens after this is still a huge question mark - will the guys get in touch? I have no clue but we'll just have to wait and see.
I'm not sure how many of us were seriously there to look for a potential partner but all in all, it was an interesting experience well worth giving it a try. Would have been better if we all got a drink at the start as part of the $30 cost. It was a safe and neutral environment to get to know random strangers and who knows, you may actually end up finding your partner in the next event! You'll never know...
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