I've never been to one, but it sounds like another way of getting beaten up out there in Singles' World.

I swanny! A crock! Sounds to me like it would just get you to a "speed divorce".

recall~ what was your experience like?

I have never been to one but I have done the business networking groups where it is run like speed dating for businesses. It is absolutely exhausting, switching tables & yacking about your business over and over again and listening to everyone else.

The few people I know hated them. Except one who ended up marrying someone.

Any method of meeting works when it works, even a stuck elevator. If you are a person who makes snap decisions - "wrong religion", "not my type", "oh, good looking" - this may work for you. It saves a lot of time to meet 20 or more potentials in one evening.

I agree with both your experience, Spuff, and your points, Isadora! You just never know where or how you meet someone new, but it does require the effort of putting yourself out there one way or another.

It's one more way to meet people and maybe enjoy it. It has the advantage of face-to-face encounters. Getting a first impression of the real person is important to some people. Of course, the disadvantage is how briefly you meet each person. Some people have gotten married to people they've met speed-dating. Others have sped out of there and never gone back.

I did one of these, a few years ago. It required advance signup so by the time I was let in off the wait list (women are more in abundance than men, at least for the group here in San Francisco, and the organizers have to balance the numbers to make it work) I was dating someone casually. He agreed I should go through with it, so I did. Despite my not-quite-available status, and my general lack of shyness, I found it very intimidating.

That said, the 5-minutes per interview, which seemed brief in concept, proved more than adequate. By the end of a few minutes, you know whether you would ever want a real date. And that is not just about physical appearance, btw -- in the case of the men I met, I was able to figure out in minutes why each one was single. I wonder if they could do the same for me :)