It sounds like a treatment for a reality TV show. Take 40 strangers. Put them in a room. Add a drop of alcohol. Force them to chat to each other for four minutes each. Light the blue touch paper and stand well back. Perhaps not even a reality show, perhaps simply a disaster movie. And yet this is what we do 6 nights a week, 51 weeks of the year. And we've yet to scrape blood off the walls.
Why am I telling you this? Because old myths still abound. While online dating has now reached a level of acceptance - 78% of single Londoners have used an online dating site - there is still some reticence around who goes speed dating and why. It's odd that mass acceptance should be this way round given the online dating industry's propensity to low security, rampant fraud and general dodginess. Even the more reputable sites struggle with the issue of fake profiles.
So I'm here to set the record straight. Think about it. You can come speed dating with friends; You get to meet people face to face - it's very difficult to fake a profile in person; you're not tied in to some monthly payment scheme with your credit card details safely in the hands of a faceless entity; and a company can't fold and disappear mid event.
You also know that the people attending are just like you. Curious, professional, confident and willing to give things a go. You're not trawling through thousands of profiles that could have been written by anyone to then spend days, or perhaps weeks, emailing back and forth only to find the person doesn't really exist or, worse yet, go on a date only to find that 6ft Sven the pilot is really 5ft 2 Kevin the unemployed dungeons and dragons player.
I'm still confused why people prefer to trust other peoples anonymity and all its concomitant risks above a good old fashioned meet up in the safety of a group situation while having fun and getting out of the house.
But look. Don't take my word for it. Sign up to a dating site. Hand over your cash and spend a month trawling the site and taking tentative steps toward maybe meeting up with a total stranger who may or may not be who you think they are. After the month cancel the subscription and check out our events. I guarantee you'll notice the difference within 4 minutes.
And if you can't wait - Check out our forthcoming events right here.
Words by Andrew Summersgill