Club Events

Lounge Thoughts

This month Speed Dating returns to the Seattle Social Club and we’re very excited. It was our very first event way back in 2022 and we have fun hosting it every time it comes around. We also consistently get good reviews on our Speed Dating with many claiming it’s the best one they’ve been too, which always brings a smile to our faces.

We aim to keep our Speed Dating simple and casual yet well structured. The night generally proceeds as follows:

Check In and Welcome

At the beginning of the night you’ll check in with us and we’ll hand you a packet that includes an explanation of the format of the event, a sheet to take notes on your matches, and a menu of fun questions to use in case the conversation starts to get awkward. Then we’ll welcome you with a speech about how the night is going to go and our strict Code of Conduct. You’ll also be assigned a matchmaker number which is used by others when they submit their desired matches.

The Dates Part 1

Then we’re off to the races. You’ll sit down with your first date and have four minutes to figure out whether you click with the other person. You can talk about anything you want but we generally find it’s best when you avoid the boring questions like “Where do you work?” or “How long have you been in Seattle?” and instead ask questions to get to know their personality. We encourage you to write down the person’s matchmaker number as soon as they sit down so you don’t forget to at the end. After the timer expires, we’ll announce it’s time to rotate and either the man or woman will move to the next table. During the rotation is a good time to take quick notes or circle those you definitely want to see again.

Intermission

After about 7 dates, we’ll have an intermission where you can grab another drink, use the restroom, get some fresh air, or mingle with other attendees. This is a great time to follow up with some of your previous dates for longer conversations or meet someone new. After 20 minutes, we’ll resume the dating for another 7-8 dates.

The Dates Part II

During the second round of dating, you’ll go back to the table you ended at and then rotate to your next date. You’ll continue for another 7-8 dates and then we’ll conclude the dating portion of the event and head to the mingle.

The Mingle

The mingle is something that is rather unique to our Speed Dating events. After all the dates have concluded, we encourage all guests to stay for the mingle. This is a great time to chat with the dates you most connected with and see if sparks continue to fly. We’ve found that attendees who stay for the mingle have a much greater chance of success than those who bounce right after the dates. You are of course welcome to offer your number to attendees during the mingle or you can use the built in matching process to exchange contact information. Remember, it is against the rules at our events to ask someone for their contact information, instead you must offer yours.

The Matchmaking Process

At the Seattle Social Club, we want to make sure dating can be as fun and safe as possible for attendees, so attendees can be their authentic vulnerable self. We designed the matchmaking process to be as safe and comforting as we could while ensuring potential for connection with other attendees. When the night concludes, you’ll fill out a form with the matchmaking numbers of five people who you’d like to see again. You’ll have until noon the next day to make your selections.

Limiting selections to only five connections ensures that you have to think hard about those who you connected with and makes it so you can’t just use the shotgun approach and select everyone and see who falls out. We believe this leads to more successful matches and potential for longer lasting connections.

If the match is mutual, you’ll receive an email with the contact information of those who you matched with. If the match is not mutual, then we will not exchange your contact information. With this approach, we’ve seen about a 45% match rate of those who submit their match form. 

Conclusion

Now you may be thinking “that’s all well and great but why should I bother attending?” Great question!

Why should I attend?

We often get asked this question when we tell people about Speed dating. It’s a great question honestly. The answer is simple. It’s a great, easy, and fun way to put yourself out there. You get to have great conversations with 15 new people you otherwise wouldn’t. You have the chance to win over people with your actual personality rather than a simple profile you put online. It’s also a lot of fun! Everyone shows up nervous and a little sheepish about the idea but by the end of the night people have genuine smiles and laughter can be heard throughout the bar.

There’s another hidden benefit which doesn’t get talked about often. When you schedule a date from an App, there’s a lot of nerves going into the date. You may think “I hope they still like me when they see me”, “I hope they match their profile”, “I hope they don’t mind my voice”, etc. There’s a lot of self doubt because up until then you’ve only connected over text and advertised yourself via a manicured profile. And when you do finally meet up, sometimes reality doesn’t match the internet!

When you come to Speed Dating, the person sees what you look like, what you sound like, how you laugh, what your personality and aura is like. And if you match, you can go into that date knowing they saw all of that and they still said yes! You can be confident in yourself and just have fun on your real date! Confidence is everything in dating and nothing builds confidence like going on 15 short dates with strangers.

Wrap up

Overall, we’re very excited for Speed Dating this month and we can’t wait. If you’re curious, come check it out!