This year I'm all about new dating experiences.
And you can't get any newer than Match.com's 'The Stir' bringing online dating offline.
Since I've re-joined Match I have received a couple of email invites to go to a stir event but I was either busy or my +1 let me done ... that was until last week.
Stir events by Match basically involve bringing single people together offline to mingle and hopefully fall in love rather than connecting online on Match or never meeting at all. These stir events are run all around the world by match but I understand that in the states they are more advanced with cooking, bowling & even salsa lessons being offered.
The events that I have seen so far in the UK have all been drinks at a bar. The Cardiff event follows suit and are held at the Mocka Lounge on trendy Mill Lane. So when my monthly invitation arrived I checked my diary, coerced a friend and we were there!
On arrival at Mocka Lounge we were surprised to see that the host had not arrived yet. We thought this was a little odd as it was 8.10 and the event was suppose to start at 8.00. We went upstairs and being the friendly type I immediately starting talking to some ladies who came down from the valleys - also their first time at a stir event.
Over the next 20 minutes or so more women turned up with a smattering of men. Hmmm, things were not looking good. But closer to 9 pm more men drifted in & in a true bizarre dating scenario it resembled a school disco with all the girls in the middle & the boys round the edges.
A gent came over & introduced himself to us. We made polite chit chat - after all there was no host and we were all in the same boat. After talking for about 20 minutes it transpired that the host arrived 10 minutes ago but didn't bother to introduce herself to the whole group or explain what was supposed to be happening throughout the night.
The host's helper finally came round to our table & gave out these ice breaker cards. The idea is you should ask someone the question but the problem with this is that some people are so shy they never left their seats plus all the questions were the same!!
I had no problem working the room doing the ice breaker or chit chatting as I have personal boundary issues - I have none. For someone like me talking to complete strangers is no biggie but for some people you could see they were terrified.
By the end of the night most people had loosened up but this was mainly due to the handful of extrovert people in the room. There was still lots of wall hugging going on. More needs to done by Match to relax people & the night needs guidance. None of us had been to a Stir event before so therefore we had no idea what we were supposed to do.
Sticking 30 single people in the room and letting them duke it out is shonky & lazy. Yes, the event was free but no 'Welcome to Match's offline dating event, My name is blah and this is what we're going to do tonight?' was done. This is not cool. Every singles event needs a loose plan.
Also I have no idea who they invited and why. Apparently there is a algorithm that is used but it must be well of because there was definitely no 40+ alpha males for me! The algorithm must be based on location, age & willingness to talk to anyone but these are my recommendations for a more successful Stir event.
- Have the event on either a Thursday or Friday night. Hire a room in a bar if you have to. Doing a event on a Monday is event suicide.
- The host should be there at least 30 minutes before the event is due to start and they should actually host the event. Hey, if your looking for someone then I might know someone!
- The complimentary drink should be tasty, given on arrival & contain at least 1% alcohol. If this is too complex how about wine, a soft drink or some straight up beer - not coloured water masquerading as a cocktail.
- Invite active members - quite a few people told me they were not active members on Match.
- Show on Match or on your official forum numbers or faces of those people that say that they're going to attend. Or of you can't show how show the faces, show numbers i.e. 31 women & 29 men will attend the Cardiff event.
- Events based on the person's age will not work if the attendee's date older or younger. Let people get their sugar daddy/sugar momma/cougar on.
- Use Match's fancy system to encourage other people to go i.e "You've emailed xxx. Do you know they've said they're going to the Match event at Mocka Lounge?"
- Don't hide these events! Use social media and Facebook to drum up attendance and create hype
- Invite more people!!!
Yes I did. I spoke to some nice people that hopefully I would see again either at another event or just casually in town.
Did I find a love match? No.
But I did meet some people to just hang out with. Maybe I'll meet someone on that night out eh?
My final thoughts on the Match Stir events?
They are a great idea but they need to be executed better. I would definitely go to the next one (if they don't ban me after this review) as I think anything that encourages dating should always be supported.
Have you been to a match.com event? Leave a comment and let me know!
3 comments
I'm coming over! I have been soooo busy with the blog but I will be to visit you soon :)
ReplyDeleteI just signed up to attend the Match Bowling event. Now I wish I discovered your write up sooner. Thanks for the heads up all the same.
ReplyDeleteHi NDY40, This review is a couple of years old and they have done some changes to the events which I think I might have had a influence over. The last few ones I have not been too but I'm moving to a new town soon so think I will check that out to see if they've improved.
ReplyDeleteHey! Go with a wingman/wingwoman if you need company.
Let me know how you get on.