Attended a speed dating event for the first time yesterday(28 Aug 2010).
Gather some thoughts along the process...
Signed up with the SAF PSC for this "Tea Xpress" by Lunch Actually.
Feeling pretty excited and a bit nervous as its my first time attending a speed dating event.
Reaching the cafe "Tea Party" @ Sixth Avenue slightly early... The venue was still in the process of setting up. So was directed to sit down to wait. Getting to know Janice as she was early too, small talk with her as Ling Li and David joined us shortly... Small talk for a while before we were directed to the second floor where the event was held.
Took my attendance with Jerrine, a sweet petite girl doing all the co-ordination of events for us. And I try to settle myself down in a corner at the first table with Janice and Ling Li.
The room is not very big and the ambient is pretty cozy. The air-conditioning was comfortably cool. The overall feel is pretty nice except for the cushy big sofa that is kind of low. Not very suitable for ladies wearing dress, and pretty uncomfortable for guys that are stocky or long legged.
The agenda for the day is to listen to a seminar on "How to Ace a date" by Violet the boss of "Lunch Actually". Follow by mingling session with one another, while the guys shift from table to table. In the midst of everything, tea and finger foods were served...
The seminar is pretty interesting and informative on how to behave and some of the things to look out for during a date. Most of the stuff were what we already know or pretty much common sense. Such that we had to make a "Sponge Pledge" before the thing starts. Honestly I think that was pretty lame...
One pretty fun exercise we did during the seminar was to go to someone we have not met and chat up for 2 mins. After which we will write three characteristic of the person we talked to. And pass the "burn after you read" piece of paper to that person. I managed to get to know Jessie through this exercise. I found that she is friendly, easy going and kind. She found me friendly, approachable and looks honest <--O.O First impression is very important. Its really insightful to know what others think of you the very first time they meet you...
After the seminar, we commenced with the main highlight of the day- "Getting to know you..."
The overall setup has good and bad points. Its a table to table mingling. Meaning to say, the gals will remain at the tables while the guys will rotate around.
Good point is that you got the covering of the group and you will not feel too intimidated with what to say. Pretty casual way of making friends as you can chat with different people simultaneously.
The bad point for me is that I don't get to chat with all the ladies present(am I greedy or what!) and its almost impossible to really get to know the girl as there are other guys competing for the attention. LOL! And for some of less vocal or introverted guys, they got left out.
Some guys will get more attention from the ladies and some ladies will get more attention from the guys. For example, I got this gentleman in my group- David. He is a doctor by profession and an expat from America. Well needless to say, lots of ladies were interested to talk to him. Few ladies chatting with one guy or few guys chatting with one lady scenario is pretty common in this kind of setup.
I attended this event hoping to make more new lady friends (in fact, one gal gave me a "what the" look when I told her I only taking contacts from the ladies). This is definitely a take back for me... Why should I restrict myself from getting to know more people? Isn't it also a good opportunity for expanding my network? Guess its my first time going for such event(lame excuse), and will definitely fine tune myself to be better if there will be another round...
Its definitely a meaningful afternoon for me... ;-)
Original post @ http://goldlion.blogspot.com
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