“Single mommies, Single women, ROTATE!!!” These words are resonated from the
loudspeaker as the female moderator targets the single moms in the bar. “For your
next 5 minutes, let’s focus on specific questions for the men. Ask them
questions about children, plans for more children, plans for family, etc. On
your mark!!! Get Set!!! SPEED DATE!!!”
These words are basically a brief synopsis of what occurs in
speed dating across the United States. Speed dating is a new phenomenon that is
catching interest among working professionals. Because of their busy work
schedule and their lack of interest in going to clubs or bars, busy single professionals
have turned to the services provided by speed dating and are enjoying the outcome.
When I lived in Memphis, speed dating was an ongoing affair!
People were signing up week after week to take part in speed dating.
According to one Memphis Pre-Dating Speed Dating service,
speed dating is a fun, safe, and efficient way to meet single professionals in
person. The speed dating is set up in 5- or 6-minute rounds in which you meet
people in your age group or interest group. You are basically getting a lot of
pre-dating in one night. Information from the local events from Pre-Dating Speed
Dating of Memphis is found on this site:
http://www.pre-dating.com/speeddating/MEM.php?WT.mc_id=google
Also, another urban, mature, and upscale speed dating service
in Memphis was hosted by Zodiac Restaurant and Lounge on Thursdays at 7PM. The
event was held at 6135 Mt. Moriah, Memphis TN 38115. People would arrive to
sign in and receive a starting table number to begin the 5 minute rounds.
Later, introductions started at 8PM and the speed dating began!!
Another poplar speed dating service of Memphis is
SpeedDateMemphis.
Some of the testimonials from this site guarantee that speed dating is the new
“IT.” Check out these two statements
below:
“At first I was apprehensive and
honestly almost backed out. (I thought how vulnerable; to expose yourself,
try your best to sell yourself within six minutes and then get judged on it.)
Well I am so glad I went. I haven't had that much fun in a while! Talk about
exciting. All twenty members; both men and women were well dressed,
intelligent, interesting, attractive and of a professional background. The
first few minutes started off quiet, everyone a bit nervous and then before
you know it the restaurant turned into a party like atmosphere. Men scurrying
from table to table at the sound of bell chimes, everyone jotting down notes
and carrying on and laughing while drinking their glasses of wine. It was a
blast! Even if there was no chemistry between you and another member everyone
was so interesting to meet.”
- Shauna O
“I
have to tell you my story... I am also a very grateful customer I am a single
mom with a life style that gets filled up with work and getting things done
at home... I knew I needed to get out more, I wanted to meet someone
wonderful, so I decided to give speed dating a try. The first time they
called, I was so nervous and felt like a loser so I backed out. Later, I
decided to try it again. I went and was pleasantly surprised at the quality
of people that attended. This is truly the way to go. I met a man that night,
a wonderful man, and I would not have met him if I had not gone.. That is its
self is a success because my expectations for the first time were not to
necessarily make a connection but I did. So thank you SpeedDatingMemphis.”-
Lorna H.
However,
locally in Northwest Arkansas, the need for such a service is in high demand,
but without a speed dating moderator and venue to host the service, a few of
the black single women would have to remain DATELESS!
But,
many black professional single women are frustrated with the lack of dates
and want to do something about it.
Black
Professional Happy Hours hosted by African American Resource Groups and sororities
and fraternities offer lots of fundraisers and charity events, but nothing
structured around a speed dating atmosphere.
Some
women have stated that NWA has very few black men to choose from. The idea of
finding a Black man and raising a family and living happily ever after, seems to fade away year after year and leave very few opportunities for Black Women. The reason is the ratio
of black men to black women which is a 1 to 25 ratio. This is a terrible and
awful statistic if it is true. For every black man, there are 25 black women
trying to get his attention. (Subsequently, black women are not the only ones competing for our brothas’
attention, more white women are dating our brothas, and particularly, there
is a lot of interracial dating and marriages in NWA. But, Love occurs across color lines and when it does, its a beautiful thing! That is another blog by
itself :)
So,
therefore, to have a speed dating service of men that are really interested
in dating would be a great service to this area which would provide a lot of
great dating experiences for our educated, black professional single women.
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Many people and other speed dating services rate speed dating
as fun, safe, and enjoyable. The goal of the service is to meet interesting people
with the possibility of meeting someone whom you would potentially like to date.
So, single women, single moms . . . what are you waiting
for?? Get yourselves ready to start
speed dating in NWA and make some connections!!! Ooops . . . your 5 minutes are up!! Rotate!!!