Because a HurryDate (http://www.hurrydate.com/) speed-dating event I attended in the spring was rather sparsely attended, everyone there (the few of us who WERE there) got a credit to attend another one for free. Since it was going to expire at the end of this month, I finally hauled myself out to a HurryDate event tonight -- and I have to say, it was pretty fun. It was much better attended than the last event, I got to see the same cute host again, ;) and I met more than the usual number of guys I'd like to see again: 7 out of 22 -- almost 33%!
Not the first guy I talked to, though. He made this big show of saying, "I RARELY go south of Houston Street, but I decided to for tonight."
"Where do you live?" I asked.
"Jersey," he admitted. Um, I'm from Jersey. You can't be choosy about where in NYC you'll travel when you live in Jersey! He also picked the strangest topics of conversation, like, "There are more swimming pools in Long Island than in NJ." I thought, a) who cares? and b) seriously -- who cares!?
There were also some random men there who I already knew. Back when a friend and I were both unemployed in 2002, we used to go to these free parties and events where we eventually started seeing the same people over and over (which is why we eventually stopped going, ha!). Well, TWO of those guys were there tonight! One completely remembered me, and one didn't remember me in the slightest ("2002 was a long time ago," he said plaintively).
There was one guy there who was totally obnoxious, though. He was making up all these crazy stories, like that he was 48, "thrice-divorced" and had lost his kid to his ex-wife in his latest divorce, even though she wasn't the kid's mother. He even told the woman two seats away from me that he'd killed a guy in a bar fight the night before. (!!!) But he told the friend I went with, "I actually want to date you, so I'll tell you the truth," and explained that he's friends with someone who works for HurryDate, so since they were short a few guys tonight, his friend "made" him come to fill in, even though he's only 23 and the men for this event were supposed to be 35 - 45. So ridiculous. As my friend said, I'd rather sit there and do nothing for four minutes than waste my energy talking to some doofus who doesn't even want to be there. Ah well. At least he was entertaining.
But the strangest part of the evening was with one of the guys I'd met before at another speed-dating event a few months ago: the Artsy Photographer. I had liked him and chosen him, but he hadn't picked me (I didn't remind him about that part - awkward!). I remembered he had some sort of artsy hobby, and he said, "Oh yes, I do photography. Lately I've been doing pre-natal photography."
"Pre-natal?" I repeated, trying to figure out how you take a picture of a baby before it's born without using an ultrasound machine. But he explained that "pre-natal photography" means taking pictures of pregnant women.
"I actually have some photos with me if you'd like to see them," he said, pulling out his digital gizmo and passing it to me.
So I looked at the first photo: a pregnant woman, lying on her side in bed, wearing a halter top type of thing so her belly was bare. In the next photo, she was wearing even less clothing. They were beautiful photos and all, but it was bizarre to look at these intimate pictures of some pregnant woman taken by a guy I didn't really know, but who was sitting across from me. Then I got to the third photo. The woman was topless. OK. This was getting really weird.
"Great photos!" I said brightly, quickly passing the gizmo back to him.
After the event ended and most of the speed-daters had left, I was chatting with the friend I came with when suddenly she nudged me, hissing, "Look!" as she pointed to the bar. The cute host was totally making out with some woman! We weren't sure if she was one of the speed-daters or not, since we'd been paying more attention to the men. If she was, then wow -- good for her. That's putting the "hurry" in HurryDate!
Showing posts with label free speed-dating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free speed-dating. Show all posts
December 4, 2008
August 25, 2008
Speed-dating this THURS. 8/28: only $20!
I received this e-mail a couple days ago. If any of you in the NYC area who are between the ages of 26 and 39 have been wanting to try speed-dating, this should be a great introduction to it. New York Easy Dates (http://www.nyeasydates.com) is one of my favorite speed-dating companies, and $20 is a good price, too. If you attend, let me know how it goes!
>Do you know anyone who has wanted to try speed-dating, but has felt a little apprehensive about it? Someone you'd like to encourage to try it? Maybe someone who hasn't been involved in the NYC dating scene for a while, and needs to plunge back in?
If so, please do forward them this e-mail. Next Thursday (August 28th), we're going to hold an event for people who are trying speed-dating for the first time.
Our friendliest hosts will be running the event, and we'll take a bit of extra time explaining the concept and how everything works. There will be complimentary appetizers and drinks specials, and the event will be just $20.
Here's the link for more details, or to register: https://www.nyeasydates.com/new_york/events/783/event_details.html
Event details: Madame X Lounge, 94 West Houston St, New York, NY
Thursday, August 28th at 7.30 pm
Women and Men, ages 26-39
regards,
The NYED Team
>Do you know anyone who has wanted to try speed-dating, but has felt a little apprehensive about it? Someone you'd like to encourage to try it? Maybe someone who hasn't been involved in the NYC dating scene for a while, and needs to plunge back in?
If so, please do forward them this e-mail. Next Thursday (August 28th), we're going to hold an event for people who are trying speed-dating for the first time.
Our friendliest hosts will be running the event, and we'll take a bit of extra time explaining the concept and how everything works. There will be complimentary appetizers and drinks specials, and the event will be just $20.
Here's the link for more details, or to register: https://www.nyeasydates.com/new_york/events/783/event_details.html
Event details: Madame X Lounge, 94 West Houston St, New York, NY
Thursday, August 28th at 7.30 pm
Women and Men, ages 26-39
regards,
The NYED Team
July 18, 2008
Free Speed-Dating; Arranged Marriage TV Show
This is short notice, but if any of you are interested in trying speed-dating, Date & Dash (http://www.DateandDash.com) is offering a FREE speed-dating event tonight at 8 PM at Alibi,116 MacDougal Street (& Bleecker) in Manhattan. Call Vilius G., DateandDash Project Manager, if you’d like to go: 773-495-0088. Keep in mind that the one and only Date & Dash event I’ve been to started late and was poorly run (see my July 2nd and July 3rd posts) -- but who knows, maybe they’ve turned over a new leaf.
Is arranged marriage threatening to become “trendy” here in North America? Well, apparently there’s going to be a reality show about it – a sign of a trend if ever there was one. Thanks to an anonymous commenter on my July 16th post, I have learned that HBO is actually planning a reality show in which people agree to have their family and friends choose them a husband or a wife (http://www.arrangedmarriagetv.com). The arranged couples promptly get married, and the camera crew follows them along their daily lives for an entire year to see how their marriages go. My first thought: WHO WOULD SIGN UP FOR THAT!? I wonder if these couples really will get legally married. I can’t imagine marrying someone I didn’t know from Adam, and then living with them in front of TV cameras for a whole year! At least your family and friends are choosing for you, and you would hope they have your best interests at heart, but that’s a lot of faith to put in their judgement. Here’s another article about the show: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hbo-now-casting-volunteers-for-upcoming-reality-tv-show-arranged-marriage Leave it to us Americans to take a sacred cultural tradition and turn it into cringe-inducing reality TV.
That said, if I were the creator of the show, I would follow both arranged couples AND “love match” couples, and compare how they do over the course of the year. That would be really interesting.
Is arranged marriage threatening to become “trendy” here in North America? Well, apparently there’s going to be a reality show about it – a sign of a trend if ever there was one. Thanks to an anonymous commenter on my July 16th post, I have learned that HBO is actually planning a reality show in which people agree to have their family and friends choose them a husband or a wife (http://www.arrangedmarriagetv.com). The arranged couples promptly get married, and the camera crew follows them along their daily lives for an entire year to see how their marriages go. My first thought: WHO WOULD SIGN UP FOR THAT!? I wonder if these couples really will get legally married. I can’t imagine marrying someone I didn’t know from Adam, and then living with them in front of TV cameras for a whole year! At least your family and friends are choosing for you, and you would hope they have your best interests at heart, but that’s a lot of faith to put in their judgement. Here’s another article about the show: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hbo-now-casting-volunteers-for-upcoming-reality-tv-show-arranged-marriage Leave it to us Americans to take a sacred cultural tradition and turn it into cringe-inducing reality TV.
That said, if I were the creator of the show, I would follow both arranged couples AND “love match” couples, and compare how they do over the course of the year. That would be really interesting.
July 3, 2008
Date and Dash update
Yesterday evening I finally received this e-mail from Date and Dash (http://www.dateanddash.com):
"Hi,
Thanks for attending the event.
We are aware that the male numbers did not match numbers in our system due to a card printing error.
This is how to correct the problem:
When you enter your "yes"s into our system, please follow this rule:
Just take 20 off from male's number, for example:
Guys-If your number was 51 enter results as 31, if you your number was 52, enter it as 32, if your number 65, enter it as 45.
Ladies-If you liked number 52, please select "yes" to 32.
Guys-when entering your selections, you DO NOT need to change the ladies numbers.
In addition, due to this mistake, we re-assigned different party number to the event. Please use 369.
Click here to enter and check your matches (you will need to create username and password)
Contact us if you have any further questions."
Geez. Could anything else have gone wrong? It's like a puzzle trying to get your matches for this one. Anyway, I finally was able to enter my matches, and got one mutual match from a guy I was on the fence about, but decided to choose at the last minute. He seemed a little intense, but he has a cool job -- he works on celebrity chef television shows -- so I decided to pick him. I just wrote him an e-mail. We'll see if he contacts me.
I'll be away for the Fourth of July weekend, but check back for a new post next Tuesday or Wednesday. Happy Independence Day and, as always, happy dating! :)
"Hi,
Thanks for attending the event.
We are aware that the male numbers did not match numbers in our system due to a card printing error.
This is how to correct the problem:
When you enter your "yes"s into our system, please follow this rule:
Just take 20 off from male's number, for example:
Guys-If your number was 51 enter results as 31, if you your number was 52, enter it as 32, if your number 65, enter it as 45.
Ladies-If you liked number 52, please select "yes" to 32.
Guys-when entering your selections, you DO NOT need to change the ladies numbers.
In addition, due to this mistake, we re-assigned different party number to the event. Please use 369.
Click here to enter and check your matches (you will need to create username and password)
Contact us if you have any further questions."
Geez. Could anything else have gone wrong? It's like a puzzle trying to get your matches for this one. Anyway, I finally was able to enter my matches, and got one mutual match from a guy I was on the fence about, but decided to choose at the last minute. He seemed a little intense, but he has a cool job -- he works on celebrity chef television shows -- so I decided to pick him. I just wrote him an e-mail. We'll see if he contacts me.
I'll be away for the Fourth of July weekend, but check back for a new post next Tuesday or Wednesday. Happy Independence Day and, as always, happy dating! :)
July 2, 2008
Date & Dash: not very dashing
I went to a speed-dating event this week through a company I’d never tried before: Date & Dash (http://www.dateanddash.com) I think they’re based out of Chicago, but they have expanded and now run events in New York – and this one was FREE! So, what did I have to lose?
Well, I ended up losing faith in Date & Dash, that’s for sure. The event was not well-run. I didn’t receive an e-mail reminder that it was taking place, like I always have with New York Easy Dates (http://www.nyeasydates.com) and Hurry Date (http://www.hurrydate.com). Check-in was supposed to be at 7:30 with the event beginning at 8:00, so I arrived at 7:45. But it ended up not even starting until after 8:30. One of the two hosts had just been asked to take over the event at the last minute, and in the confusion, the forms that we women needed to write down our matches were forgotten. We had to write down our matches on the back of the web site instruction forms. Actually, we had to write them down twice: once for us so we could enter the matches into the web site the next day, and once for the hosts. I don’t really get why. Also, our nametags didn’t have our names on them, only our numbers, so with every date, I had to ask the guy’s name and vice versa.
Considering all of this, the evening was not boding well. But surprisingly enough, I met 15 guys, which I think is the most I’ve ever met at one event. One guy went on and on about how American women are too fickle and too spoiled (for the record, he was American), and how his only faint hope when he attended these events was to find that one-in-a-million woman he could actually stand. But most of the guys I met were really nice and interesting. Bizarrely, one of the guys had grown up in my small hometown in New Jersey, and we went to the same high school -- he graduated just two years behind me! How random is that? I didn't remember him or recognize his name at all, though. Anyway, I chose five guys to see again, which is a high rate for me.
Unfortunately, I may never get the chance. I turned in my form at the end of the night, but when I tried to log in my matches today, the site didn’t recognize my e-mail address. I called the Date & Dash customer service department, and the guy who answered said to re-register. I did that, confirmed my registration, and attempted to log in my matches. But the numbers didn’t match up -- the guys I met had had “assigned dater numbers” of 50 to 70, but the web site only listed 30 to 60. Since three of my matches had numbers higher than 60, I couldn’t log them in. So I put in the two matches that I could. For my trouble, I received -- you guessed it -- another error message. Argh!
I called Date & Dash back, and the same guy answered – makes me wonder if their “customer service department” is actually the founder of the company sitting by himself in his apartment in Chicago. He apologized, saying “they” (read: he, himself & him) were about to send an e-mail to all the participants, explaining that we had been given the wrong party number and that we should subtract 20 from each man’s dater number, since the printer had printed out the wrong numbers last night.
It’s been a couple of hours since I called, and have I received an e-mail? Of course not. Sigh. I would say that I want my money back but, oh yeah, it was a free event. You get what you pay for....
Well, I ended up losing faith in Date & Dash, that’s for sure. The event was not well-run. I didn’t receive an e-mail reminder that it was taking place, like I always have with New York Easy Dates (http://www.nyeasydates.com) and Hurry Date (http://www.hurrydate.com). Check-in was supposed to be at 7:30 with the event beginning at 8:00, so I arrived at 7:45. But it ended up not even starting until after 8:30. One of the two hosts had just been asked to take over the event at the last minute, and in the confusion, the forms that we women needed to write down our matches were forgotten. We had to write down our matches on the back of the web site instruction forms. Actually, we had to write them down twice: once for us so we could enter the matches into the web site the next day, and once for the hosts. I don’t really get why. Also, our nametags didn’t have our names on them, only our numbers, so with every date, I had to ask the guy’s name and vice versa.
Considering all of this, the evening was not boding well. But surprisingly enough, I met 15 guys, which I think is the most I’ve ever met at one event. One guy went on and on about how American women are too fickle and too spoiled (for the record, he was American), and how his only faint hope when he attended these events was to find that one-in-a-million woman he could actually stand. But most of the guys I met were really nice and interesting. Bizarrely, one of the guys had grown up in my small hometown in New Jersey, and we went to the same high school -- he graduated just two years behind me! How random is that? I didn't remember him or recognize his name at all, though. Anyway, I chose five guys to see again, which is a high rate for me.
Unfortunately, I may never get the chance. I turned in my form at the end of the night, but when I tried to log in my matches today, the site didn’t recognize my e-mail address. I called the Date & Dash customer service department, and the guy who answered said to re-register. I did that, confirmed my registration, and attempted to log in my matches. But the numbers didn’t match up -- the guys I met had had “assigned dater numbers” of 50 to 70, but the web site only listed 30 to 60. Since three of my matches had numbers higher than 60, I couldn’t log them in. So I put in the two matches that I could. For my trouble, I received -- you guessed it -- another error message. Argh!
I called Date & Dash back, and the same guy answered – makes me wonder if their “customer service department” is actually the founder of the company sitting by himself in his apartment in Chicago. He apologized, saying “they” (read: he, himself & him) were about to send an e-mail to all the participants, explaining that we had been given the wrong party number and that we should subtract 20 from each man’s dater number, since the printer had printed out the wrong numbers last night.
It’s been a couple of hours since I called, and have I received an e-mail? Of course not. Sigh. I would say that I want my money back but, oh yeah, it was a free event. You get what you pay for....
June 4, 2008
Guy Update -- the Final Four?
Okay. I currently have four guys in rotation: Mr. No Touchy-Feely; the Nicest Guy in the World; Finance Guy; and the Drummer Boy. Mr. No Touchy-Feely and I talked on the phone Thursday night, and he asked me out for the weekend. I said yes, even though I wasn’t sure how I’d fit it in because I already had plans to go to the Nicest Guy in the World’s birthday party on Sunday, and I was getting sick – I could feel it starting. So of course on Friday I woke up with a full-blown cold, and coughed, sneezed, sniffled, and generally felt miserable all day. I left a voicemail that evening for Mr. No Touchy-Feely, explaining I was sick and couldn’t get together with him over the weekend after all. He called me back and left me a voicemail later in the evening while I was on the phone with my sister. I went to bed without calling him back. He also left me a voicemail on Saturday, and I didn’t call him back. On Sunday evening he left me a voicemail while I was on the subway returning from the Nicest Guy in the World’s party, and he sounded alarmed (“Are you okay? You must be really sick if you haven’t been able to return my calls!”), so I finally called him back. It’s like, the less I reach out, the more he chases me -- funny how boys tend to do that. Anyway, we talked Sunday night, and he said this week is crazy busy for him with rehearsals every night. But I’m going to his show on Friday night. It’ll be interesting to see him in action.
The Nicest Guy in the World’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon was a lot of fun. On the Metro-North train up there, I was nervous because I knew his whole family would be there, and what if they were like, “So, how did you two meet!?” I would’ve had to say, “Well, on Match.com. But we’re not dating.” Or what if they asked me WHY I wasn’t dating him? There’s no end to the awkward conversations that could have ensued!
But nothing of the sort happened – it was just really nice. I got to meet his parents and siblings, a few of his friends and their wives. We all sat outside on the deck, talking and eating hamburgers from the grill. It was so sunny and beautiful out, and his friend’s two little boys ran around playing with squirt guns with his young niece and nephew. It reminded me a lot of hanging out with my extended family in Buffalo, very relaxed and enjoyable. I had a great time. I gave him a birthday card and present, of course. Then when it was time to go and I went inside to get my purse, I noticed a plastic bag on top of it. “That’s a get well present for you,” he said with a grin. I opened the bag, and it was two six-packs of spearmint Tic-Tacs, which I am addicted to and which are extremely hard to find in the six-pack, for some reason. HE IS SO THOUGHTFUL!!! Who else would give me a gift when it’s *their* birthday!?
Last night I had a date with Finance Guy, the only guy who chose me at the speed-dating event I went to a couple weeks ago. He’s eleven years older than I am, but he’s very nice, and VERY high energy. He works 7 AM to 7 PM every day, plays in three softball leagues on the weekends, and is taking credits toward another graduate degree at night (he already has an MBA). I don't know how he does it. He still manages to see movies, though. It did give me pause when we were talking about the most recent movies we’ve seen – for him, it was “What Happens in Vegas” and “Made of Honor.” Total chick flicks! I was trying to figure out if he’d been dragged there on dates, but he said something like, “Oh, all those rainy Friday nights in May, I just felt like going to the movies.” He made it sound like he went by himself! But he’d also seen “Iron Man,” so that reassured me a bit. It was funny, at one point he looked at me and said, “Why was someone like you doing speed-dating? I mean, you’re attractive!” Ha ha! Little does he know that he was the only guy from the event who thought so, since he was the lone man who actually chose to see me again! We talked about a lot of important stuff for a first date, though – how long our longest relationship was, do we want to have kids, etc. Honestly, in some ways I know Finance Guy better after one date than I know Mr. No Touchy-Feely after five months.
Last but not least, a random guy e-mailed me after seeing my profile on the speed-dating web site. I’ll call him the Drummer Boy because he plays drums in a band as a hobby. I was surprised he wrote to me because I’m 35 and he’s only 31. But I guess he doesn’t care how old my ovaries are because under the “do you want kids” question, his profile says, “Nope, and I never will,” whereas mine says “someday,” or something like that, so we certainly don’t match in that regard. I wrote him back anyway, though, because his profile was really clever and funny – and in his profile picture, he looks SO MUCH like Almost Perfect (see my January 30th post). In fact, when I first glanced at the photo, for one heart-stopping second I thought it WAS Almost Perfect and he was messing with me -- that’s how similar they look. We’ve been exchanging e-mails and are making plans to meet after work one night next week. I’ll keep you posted.
The Nicest Guy in the World’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon was a lot of fun. On the Metro-North train up there, I was nervous because I knew his whole family would be there, and what if they were like, “So, how did you two meet!?” I would’ve had to say, “Well, on Match.com. But we’re not dating.” Or what if they asked me WHY I wasn’t dating him? There’s no end to the awkward conversations that could have ensued!
But nothing of the sort happened – it was just really nice. I got to meet his parents and siblings, a few of his friends and their wives. We all sat outside on the deck, talking and eating hamburgers from the grill. It was so sunny and beautiful out, and his friend’s two little boys ran around playing with squirt guns with his young niece and nephew. It reminded me a lot of hanging out with my extended family in Buffalo, very relaxed and enjoyable. I had a great time. I gave him a birthday card and present, of course. Then when it was time to go and I went inside to get my purse, I noticed a plastic bag on top of it. “That’s a get well present for you,” he said with a grin. I opened the bag, and it was two six-packs of spearmint Tic-Tacs, which I am addicted to and which are extremely hard to find in the six-pack, for some reason. HE IS SO THOUGHTFUL!!! Who else would give me a gift when it’s *their* birthday!?
Last night I had a date with Finance Guy, the only guy who chose me at the speed-dating event I went to a couple weeks ago. He’s eleven years older than I am, but he’s very nice, and VERY high energy. He works 7 AM to 7 PM every day, plays in three softball leagues on the weekends, and is taking credits toward another graduate degree at night (he already has an MBA). I don't know how he does it. He still manages to see movies, though. It did give me pause when we were talking about the most recent movies we’ve seen – for him, it was “What Happens in Vegas” and “Made of Honor.” Total chick flicks! I was trying to figure out if he’d been dragged there on dates, but he said something like, “Oh, all those rainy Friday nights in May, I just felt like going to the movies.” He made it sound like he went by himself! But he’d also seen “Iron Man,” so that reassured me a bit. It was funny, at one point he looked at me and said, “Why was someone like you doing speed-dating? I mean, you’re attractive!” Ha ha! Little does he know that he was the only guy from the event who thought so, since he was the lone man who actually chose to see me again! We talked about a lot of important stuff for a first date, though – how long our longest relationship was, do we want to have kids, etc. Honestly, in some ways I know Finance Guy better after one date than I know Mr. No Touchy-Feely after five months.
Last but not least, a random guy e-mailed me after seeing my profile on the speed-dating web site. I’ll call him the Drummer Boy because he plays drums in a band as a hobby. I was surprised he wrote to me because I’m 35 and he’s only 31. But I guess he doesn’t care how old my ovaries are because under the “do you want kids” question, his profile says, “Nope, and I never will,” whereas mine says “someday,” or something like that, so we certainly don’t match in that regard. I wrote him back anyway, though, because his profile was really clever and funny – and in his profile picture, he looks SO MUCH like Almost Perfect (see my January 30th post). In fact, when I first glanced at the photo, for one heart-stopping second I thought it WAS Almost Perfect and he was messing with me -- that’s how similar they look. We’ve been exchanging e-mails and are making plans to meet after work one night next week. I’ll keep you posted.
March 18, 2008
FREE month on HurryDate.com!
If you’ve been curious to try HurryDate (http://www.hurrydate.com), one of the speed-dating companies, you’re in luck – in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, they’re giving away free 30 day subscriptions to HurryDate Online! You also get 25% off all speed-dating events while you are subscribed. Between now and March 22nd (the offer expires Sunday March 23rd), choose the one-month subscription package and enter the code POTOGOLD when prompted to pay. (Their e-mail notes, “You will be asked to enter a credit card to redeem your free month so that we may provide you with uninterrupted service after the first month is up. You may, however, cancel at any time prior to that so as not to be charged.”)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
