Modern dating is many things – but enjoyable definitely isn’t one of them. Recently I have found dating apps such as Hinge, Tinder and Bumble to be a horrendously dry dating experiences.
In a spontaneous turn of events, I decided to throw myself out there and attend Generators and Okcupids’ Red Flag Speed Dating event to revive my dead little dating life.
The event took a very unconventional approach to dating. Instead of attendees hiding their flaws, red flags and negative traits they were required to wear them as a badge of honour and parade them around on their chest.
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As someone who definitely has their cards close to their chest while dating I wondered to myself, would exposing my negative traits go well? Would I find love by the end of the night?
Upon getting to the venue attendees were greeted by various staff who asked us to scan a QR code to take us to a 12 question form we had to fill out.
Once the form revealed our red flags the staff wrote them out and branded them on our chest and sent us to go and socialise with the rest of the group of around 40. There were a number of red flags people came attached with, ranging from Commitment Cautious, Overthinker, Always late and Oversharer to name a few.
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The speed dating was chaotic when we were dropped across the table to a complete stranger and only had a mere 90 seconds to get to know them. Once the time was up the fellas all moved one seat to their left to do the whole thing all over again.
While the majority of the conversations were quite interesting with some pretty pleasant ladies, there were a couple of times I felt myself wondering: “When will this 90 seconds be over?” These thoughts were usually accompanied by an awkward stretch and turn that led me to checking how long of the 90 seconds were left on the timer projected on a board behind. No matter what the number, I was disappointed.
A boring conversation or two during speed dating was inevitable. Everyone has their flaws, some people are incredibly attractive, others have amazing personalities, and a very unlucky few have neither.
After everyone had spoken to everyone once the game ended and something very interesting happened. People began to move and mingle a little bit. Naturally people found who they had particularly good conversations with and resumed them.
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Some couples even began to make their way out of the venue and mysteriously disappeared into the night.
While I didn’t find anyone I thought would sweep me off my feet, speed dating was definitely an event I could see myself going to in future. Maybe the allegations that I can be picky are not entirely unfounded.
After the event I reminisced on something the mastermind behind the event dating expert, Vikki Pavitt, who partnered with Generator and OkCupid to create a speed dating experience had told me.
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On the topic of dating apps she cautioned that people should use them but in conjunction with other forms of meeting people and said: “I would advocate for a bit of a mix and see the apps as not just one way to meet people not just the only way to meet people”
The speed dating definitely was a needed breath of fresh air in comparison to dating apps. Even though I didn’t find love, I would encourage single people everywhere to definitely take a step out of their comfort zones and give something as radical as speed dating a try.
The unique event took place in various Generator locations in Europe, such as Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam as well as the brand’s US properties, and offered people across the globe the chance to find love in a more refreshing way than an experience on a dating app.