poly speed dating
By Dr. Charlie Glickman • Jul 7th, 2008 • Category: BlogI’m sure you’ve seen all the speed dating events out there in the world, but if you haven’t, here’s how they work. For a short time (2-5 minutes), you chat with your “speed date.” If you like the person, you generally mark that on a card provided by the organizer. If both people indicate a wish to continue the conversation, you’re given each other’s contact info and you can take it from there. It’s a fun way to meet lots of people, although you don’t get much chance to get beyond first impressions.
Ever since I first heard about speed dating, I noticed that the events are mostly for heterosexual folks and I wondered if anyone was going to try to create something similar for anyone else. And thank goodness that I live in the San Francisco area. There’s kinky speed dating (although that doesn’t seem to have happened for a while), queer speed dating (which is coming up on July 10, but it looks like a bi-monthly event) , and now there’s poly speed dating (coming up on July 14).
Yes, people in polyamorous and open relationships can have a night of speed dating too! The organizers seem to have some system to accommodate individuals, couples and groups. Since polyamory tends to be a bit more logistically complex than monogamous relationships, I’m sure they’ve got their work cut out for them. But what a fun way to spend an evening.
By the way, if you’re curious about polyamory, you might want to check out Tristan Taormino’s book, Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships. I’d definitely suggest checking it out before going to the event.
Whatever your relationship structure, speed dating can be lots of fun. So get on out there and have fun!
Dr. Charlie Glickman >> Dr. Charlie Glickman has been working at Good Vibrations since 1996, when he joined the staff at our Berkeley store. Currently, he is our Education Program Manager and (among other things) runs our in-store After Hours workshop program, our Off-Site Sex Education Program, trains our Sex Educator-Sales Associates and writes copy for our website. In 2005, Charlie received his doctorate in Adult Sexuality Education from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, he offers classes on sexuality for psychotherapists and workshops on teaching for sex educators.
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The Big Gay Sketch Show did a fun spoof called “Lesbian Speed Dating.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRO63vEm40