One of the most significant revelations I’ve had regarding speed dating in London occurred about a month ago. For me, speed dating is less about meeting the ‘one’ than it is about meeting a whole bunch of like-minded singles, having a chat and enjoying a genuinely fun night. And it certainly beats going down to the Dog & Desperate with the same mates talking about the same things and waking up with the same hangover AGAIN.
I’d been asked to write a brief on why all singles in London should go speed dating at least once. The thing about briefs is that they have to be, well, brief. The first paragraph of this article isn’t. In short (see what I did there?), I was struggling.
So, a month ago we received an email in our inbox here at Original Dating HQ from a gentleman who, over the course of a few months, had been to about four events.
The email was brief but grateful. He thanked us for the singles events we ran, told us of the fun he had in London, and concluded that, unfortunately, he was unlikely to come to any events in the near future. The reason? Through speed dating he had established both a friendship group and a professional network and did not at the moment require the networking opportunities speed dating presented.
I remembered meeting this gentleman our events. He lives in Berlin and every three weeks or so he flies into London on business. His explanation for doing speed dating was simple. “London is a tough place to be single. I can sit in a hotel bar on my own and probably not get chatting to anybody. Or I can come here and meet 30-40 different people, whether guys or girls.” “And” he added, “I’ve never been able to get into Funky Buddha before.”
That’s the beauty of our dating events. They give Londoners (and those from further afield) the chance to meet like-minded singles in great venues, in a relaxed, secure and above all fun environment.
And we’ve taken this story a little further, turning the singles night format it into what we call the Midweek Social. Imagine combining the best elements of a singles event, one of the finest establishments in London, the friendliness of a friend's private party and the convenience of a networking night and there you have it – The Midweek Social.
Oooh, and why not chuck in a free cocktail and some canapés as our way of saying welcome. It’s basically like walking into a bar with 150-200 people split evenly by gender, all of whom are up for a chat and a laugh with you.
We’ll be running plenty more of these events over the coming months but in the meantime we still have a couple of tickets left for tomorrow’s event at the luxurious Funky Buddha. So drop us a line and register your interest and we’ll see you at a Midweek Social soon.
WORDS BY JOHN DAVIS
Forthcoming Midweek Social Events & Parties