I went to a vegan speed dating event. It was fun, I would do it again, but I would do a couple of things differently.

What I would change

Next time, I want to find the people I find visually pleasing, and try to spend most of the time with them. The structured activities can be largely ignored: I wasn’t interested in most people, and I should’ve taken my fate in my own hands. Find the people you’re interested with (pretty) and look for opportunities to engage with them; ignore everything else.

During the conversations, too much time was wasted on meandering conversations about stupid topics: how long have I been in London, how long have I been vegan etc. No one was interested in these topics, but it was the default. It’s important to lead the conversation and make sure you’re talking about something that actually allows you to see if you match. Even hobbies are better. Maybe give 30 seconds to see if the convo flows naturally, and then take the lead, ask interesting questions (probably prepared beforehand). Maybe give a 15s intro too.

I should have engaged more with girls, it’s what I came for. E.g., when there were groups of girls, I was frightened to approach them, but I should have. Even if I liked only one girl of the group, engaging with the whole group is still better than waiting outside.

Also, I need to think what I actually want to know about a person.

What I’ve done well

I think I was engaged and lead the conversations with the 2 girls that I liked. I was also more leading in conversation with men, asking them questions rather than waiting for them to ask me. In general, I was more active than usual, although I still found myself alone a couple of times, while everyone else was engaged in a conversation.