SPEED DATING IN CHICAGO, IL

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Posted by Daniel B. on Sep. 5, 2009 in Speed-dating tips and stats

We are frequently asked if there will be an even number of men and women at our speed-dating events.  Or we're asked how we can possibly ensure that the event will be nicely balanced between men and women.

Well, it's not easy, but we're good at it.  We know that one of the most important things to a customer is that there are an equal number of men and women.  Or perhaps more accurately, attendees would like at least the same number of the opposite gender, but they are OK if there are more!

Every speed-dating event we run has approximately the same number of men and women on the guestlist.  Of course, there will sometimes be last minute cancellations, and there will sometimes be no-shows, but for the most part, the guestlist will have an even number of each gender.

Our trick (after 6 years and 800 events) is that we know the patterns of how men and women sign up.  Women will register, on average, at least 7 or 8 days before the event.  Men on the other hand will register much closer to the event date, including a flurry in the last 2-3 hours!  So often we'll see that an event the following day has (for example) 18 women and 7 men, and we won't be the least bit concerned, as we know men will register.

Of course, there are times when we see that we'll need to boost one gender.  We have a database of more than 20,000 singles, so we simply send out a targeted e-mail, for example, "Men aged 33-41 who have shown interest in an Ivy League and Advanced Degree Singles" event.  In this e-mail, we remind them of the upcoming event, tell them that there are a bunch of women registered, and sure enough, they'll sign up.