|
Singles get a shortcut
By ORLA SWIFT, Staff Writer
A person can find out only so much about a potential mate in a brief
conversation. But Kimwa L. Walker was pleased to be able to guarantee
one important factor at a recent singles mixer. She knew most of the
participants would be African-American, just as she is.
The mixer, at
Durham's Montas International Lounge in July, was the first of a series
of matchmaking parties organized by 8minuteDating.com to cater to the
Triangle's African-Americans. Area singles can expect a host of
targeted events in the coming months, beginning with Latinos and Jewish
singles and expanding eventually to include Christians, vegetarians,
gays, single parents and hobby-oriented daters such as golf or movie
aficionados.
8minuteDating
gathers equal numbers of men and women for a night of 8-minute
conversations with an array of potential mates. It's one of many
quick-date matchmaking organizations that serve the Triangle. After the
Tuesday mixer, 8minuteDating will move its African-American socials to
Black Tie Nightlife in Raleigh for a series of Monday night mixers
beginning Sept. 22.
The niche events
aren't restrictive; anyone interested in socializing with Latino or
African-American people may attend. And participants needn't be
interested in dating, as the events also match mates for friendship or
business networking.
But their narrowed
focus has enticed new participants, people such as Tiffany Ivey, a
33-year-old African-American computer systems analyst who moved from
Boston to the Triangle a decade ago.
Ivey had considered
attending quick-date mixers before, she says, but she didn't want to
risk being the only person of color in a roomful of Caucasians. Not for
her nerve-racking first time out.
"I wanted to at
least first get out and mingle with my own," Ivey says. "I wanted to
start by seeing people that immediately I could relate to on some
grounds."
Ivey attended the
Montas 8minuteDating and promptly signed up for the Latino night and
another one for professionals of any ethnicity.
Tom Jaffee is
betting the Triangle is full of people like Ivey, who like the idea of
quickie mixers but need something more precise than the promise of a
roomful of singles.
"What we're trying
to do is to make it easy for people to meet people whom they're likely
to connect with," says Jaffee, the founder and CEO of the Boston-based
8minuteDating.com.
That's what Walker
wanted. She's not crazy about the bar scene. And online matchmaking was
a bust. Outside of church and her job as a laboratory scientist at Duke
University Medical Center, she says, she has few places she can go to
socialize with men who might share her interests.
With the
African-American 8minuteDating, she says, "I figured I could meet
someone with whom I had a little bit in common culturally."
And she did. She
liked three of the nine men she met at the first African-American
8minuteDating, and made a match with one, with whom she's planning a
real date. Meanwhile, she has signed up for the next African-American
8minute event, Tuesday at Montas.
"I wouldn't rule out
a Latino one, or the general one," Walker, 31, of Durham, says of the
8minute niche events. "But I'd probably first go to the
African-American one."
Jaffee's idea isn't
new. Jewish singles began gathering for speed-dating events years ago,
and the concept has gathered steam, spawning countless variations
around the world. Jaffee estimates that about one-fifth of his events
are geared to what he calls niche groups.
Part of the success
of the niche events is finding an ideal venue. Montas' ethnically and
culturally mixed clientele was a good fit for the African-American
gathering. And the Latino 8minuteDating promises to be an even better
fit at Montas, since many Latinos head there each weekend for its salsa
and mambo music and dancing. The club also frequently caters to singles
with discount admission specials.
Ivey is jazzed for
the Latino mixer. If she doesn't make new friends, she says, at least
she may learn some salsa moves. And now that she's 8minuteDating savvy,
she's eager to see who might show up at the general "single
professionals" mixers.
"You could find a rainbow there," she speculates, "and that's fine."
Staff writer Orla Swift can be reached at 829-4764 or oswift@newsobserver.com.
| 
Raleigh: 66
°F
Asheville: 58 °F
Wilmington: 69 °F
printer friendly version
send this story to a friend
subscribe to our e-mail lists
get news, weather, movies on your PDA
