Life Features

JOE has grown tired of vain attempts to meet women in pubs and clubs. We put speed dating to the test as a means of hooking up.

By William Nestor

Confidence is the key to success, but even the most self-assured among us shouldn't expect a cake walk at a speed dating event - members of the opposite sex will test you in varying ways during your brief five minute encounter.

At first, it’s a daunting experience for the cockiest of cocky individuals – a characteristic my fellow JOE’s have branded me with in recent times. However, once a scan of the room eradicated all apprehension triggered by the prospect meeting someone I knew, I felt a wave of renewed confidence and became excited at a chance of some work-related, guilt-free flirting with the opposite sex.

Connecting

It is a buzz, isn’t it? That instant connection with a woman. The exchanging of rueful smiles and the slight nervousness breaking through conversation. In fact, there seemed to be a connection at some level with practically every second woman I chatted with while making my rounds of the room. Not a bad return to start with.

If you’ve never heard of speed dating before, it involves the men rotating from table to table for a five-minute chat with every woman. You can’t skip any of them. Well, you can, but it would look pretty lousy.

Fifteen v fifteen is the norm at a standard speed dating night. The ClickDating.ie event I attended had just that, as well as a reserved area away from the glaring eye of the Friday night party-goers. This immediately takes the pressure off as you don’t have randomers just strolling through the room while you do your best to impress.

There’s a wide variety of looks, personalities and levels of intelligence in attendance at a speed dating event so there is very much something for everyone.

The strike rate

Not everyone will find their future wife at at event, although I know one confirmed married couple who met through speed dating. In my case, I met some sound and good-looking women. They ticked all the right boxes and ultimately got a tick on my score card – four women out of 15 to be exact. If the women you’ve ticked give a tick in return, then you both receive each other’s contact details via email from the event organisers. That’s how it works and it’s up to you after that.

In terms of the types of women I met and spoke with, there was a large cross-section. Teachers and managerial types, quirky and boring. Again, just like the looks category, they vary from one extreme to the other. The positive news is that there’s someone for everyone, provided you keep an open-mind and be honest about yourself.

From the four women I gave a tick to I was informed that three of them had also ticked my box. A 75 per cent strike rate is more than I expected to be honest. Now, with boxes ticked on both sides and contact details arriving, the next step would be to tee-up a second date. I’m giving it serious consideration.

ClickDating.ie organise speed dating events all over Ireland. To find out where the next event closest to you is on, click here. ClickDating.ie are offering a 20% discount to all JOE.ie readers with the voucher code: LuckyJOE