In a hurry to find your soul mate? SpeedDating can set you up , in about seven minutes.
Los Angeles-based SpeedDating has set up shop in San Diego. The organization bills itself as an “exciting, quick and non-pressured way” to meet quality Jewish singles. In one evening, participants meet seven people, in individual one-on-one conversations of seven minutes each.
That guarantees each participant seven dates , without the need for uncomfortable ice-breaking and avoiding the nightmare of three-hour blind dates, said Yaacov Deyo, educational director of the Los Angeles chapter of Aish HaTorah, the Jerusalem-based Jewish educational network which created SpeedDating.
At a typical SpeedDating event, a group of Jewish singles , an equal number of men and women , gather at a cafe that has been rented for the evening. The cafe is filled with “tables for two,” and each table is numbered, he said.
One man and one woman are paired up at each table, where they have seven minutes to talk. Participants are also given suggested topics to help break the ice. At the end of the seven minutes, a bell rings, and all dates end, Deyo said.
The men then get up from their seats and move to the next table, and the process starts over, he said.
Participants also fill out a form indicating which people they’d be interested in seeing again. If both parties are interested, organizers let participants know within 48 hours which matches have been made, and give each side the other’s phone number, Deyo said.
From this point on, prospective couples are invited to dating at a slower pace, he said.
SpeedDating holds events in 27 cities throughout the country. At a typical event, more than half the participants meet someone with whom there is mutual interest in another date. Some of them have gone on to get engaged and marry, he said.
The next San Diego event is scheduled for July 22. Jews of all ages and affiliations interested in participating can call Maxine Sclar at (858) 458-9515 for more information or to sign up.
