Having endured the misery of lockdown, the single folks of London have been dealt another blow in the form of the new ‘Rule of Six’ law coming into effect on Monday.
The new rules mean that anyone attending any social gathering faces a fine of £100 if more than six people are in attendance. There is now no legal way to run a live speed dating event during this time and anyone who tells you there is an exception, a workaround or otherwise is not telling you the truth. Amazingly, socialising and meeting strangers has been outlawed.
In our last post we had highlighted the steps we’d taken to make our events as ‘COVID Secure’ as possible whilst working within the (then) legal limit of 30 attendees. We had relaunched a limited programme of socially distanced events and resumed selling tickets again. Early indications were good.
Regretfully the Rule of Six drives a coronavirus-shaped coach and horses through our plans to resume live speed dating events again. Unlike some, there is no exception to the rules for our industry and as a result, dating events must return to the virtual world once again.
However, whist this is a setback for us, after all we love hosting proper live events, it is not all bad news.
Virtual is back
Throughout the lockdown we had great feedback for our virtual dating events. We created what we believe to be the slickest and best virtual dating format taking place anywhere.
Virtual speed dating allows you to meet the same people, the same host and enjoy the same four-minute dates. The beauty of virtual speed dating now that the lockdown is over is you can meet IRL people you matched in person.
Virtual dating just got better – Introducing Curated Speed Dating™
Virtual speed dating is good, but we wanted to know if there was a way we could improve the matching rate at our events and make the events more successful for people. Was there a way we could introduce people that *should* get along from the start?
We got to work on this over the lockdown and with the help of some exceptionally clever boffins, came up with a methodology for doing just that. Curated Dating was born.
By asking everyone a few questions via our Curated Dating Quiz we are able to get to know everyone just enough to discover the kind of people who will be appealing to them and direct them to the perfect event for them.
On the surface this sounds very simple but there is a lot going on behind the scenes. Our test events have been an amazing success and we have big plans for the Curated Dating format in its virtual and live form. Curated Dating is set to revolutionise what we can do for our customers.
If you would to receive your very own invitation to your own Curated Dating event, take the quiz now and we’ll be right back to you.
So, whilst lockdown and the Rule of Six have hampered our plans, our innovations will pave the way through the next few months of these unpresented times.