SAN FRANCISCO (dpa) – America’s latest strategy for single persons who don’t want to be single any longer has many names: speed-dating, express-date, 10-minute-dating or simply mini-date.
The principle is the same, whatever the name: why spend an entire evening with a stranger if you realise after only the first few minutes that you can’t stand the person?The solution: the man and woman sit down facing each other. A gong is sounded, and in the next seven to 10 minutes each one tries to find out as much as possible about the other persons. When the gong goes off a second time, the men stand up and move on to the next female candidate.At such a rendezvous in San Francisco recently, some 200 men and women between the ages of 30 and 60 sat, a hopeful expression on their faces, in two long rows opposite each other.The command was given, and then most everybody started talking away. Only a few sat there looking bored.One woman was Janet, a 43-year-old landscape architect, who talked about her dream vacation and hobbies. John, a banker, was satisfied to ask her some easy questions about her profession and where she comes from.Klara Vass, a 48-year-old housewife, has had enough after only two minutes. She says that you can tell after only a few sentences whether the sparks will fly or not.Dan Goodman, a fitness trainer with beads of sweat on his forehead, is surprised at how strenuous it is, talking with a different woman every seven minutes. He met 15 women on this particular evening. One of them he would like to see again.Richard Gosse, chairman of “American Singles”, billed as the largest singles lobby group in the world, says this is the fastest, most effective and at the moment “hottest” way to search for a partner.Gosse should know. For 23 years now he has been bringing lonely hearts together in the United States and other English-speaking countries.Seven-minute dating is the latest hit which is spreading like a house on fire, including soon in Europe,” he said.The method of rapid acquaintanceship was invented by a Jewish congregation in New York and Los Angeles, and it has since taken out a patent on the term “speeddating”. The idea was to promote marriages between two people of the same religious faith.But other groups have long since discovered the charms of the method. Minute-dates have become a practice everywhere from among computer fans in Silicon Valley to gays in San Francisco to the suburbs of Chicago.Gosse says the quick acquaintanceship method is above all great for shy singles who lacked the confidence to speak to a stranger in a bar. His tip to people: don’ talke about money, your weight or about your former partner, but rather about your dreams, aspirations and hobbies.At a rapid-date meeting organised by Gosse, at the end of the talking marathon music is played so that those who immediately took a liking to someone can move on to the next step.Other dating organisers however forbid any immediate contact or the exchange of telephone numbers. The men and women must jot down on a note pad whether they are interested in the person sitting across from them. The master of ceremonies then weighs the results.Only where it is found that both persons wrote down the other’s name as somebody they would like to see again is a contact set up via e-mail. It is then up to the two persons to decide on any further meetings.Most speed-dating meetings cost about 25 dollars per evening. For this money, a person can get to know 15 to 20 potential partners.Getting to this first step is currently the toughest one. Speed-dating is so much in demand in America that most meetings are booked out weeks and months in advance.
