- Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photgrapher
'Singles' get busy at the Vibes Connect party 'Friends of Friends' held in January at Club Epiphany Too.
Alicia Roache, Staff Reporter
GONE IT, seems, are the days when finding a partner meant long courtships, romantic escapades or even going to a bar. Welcome to the age of high tech dating.
With the development of the new wave of online dating and singles' parties like 'Hooked!' and 'VibesConnect', it seems that the potential for dating is endless and the costs minimal.
Dating in the Y2K and beyond can be as easy as the click of a mouse and faster than broadband dial-up.
"Internet dating adds value. It's much more convenient than going to the club," says Vibes Connect manager, Delroy Frazer. "You can search thousands of persons, respond to four or five and up to now you don't spend a dime.
"The singles party is just to let the people see who they've been chatting with for so long... Instead of linking up with them individually, they'd rather meet in a group, see other people and have fun."
TREND TO SPEND
It will cost an online dater between $350 and $500 to get into one of these singles' parties.
The trend to speed date seems to have grown rapidly in Jamaica, based on the number of people logging on and hooking up. According to Frazer, his site, on which potential couples connect initially, has grown from 3,000 people in its first week to over 56,000 members currently.
Clordene Lloyd, who operates the Internet and dating service and singles party series Hooked!, says she has people from countries all over the world logging on to her site.
And after just two parties there are over 100 persons signed up for the third 'exclusive' party. The party has become so successful that it has prompted the organisers to develop it into a series called 'Singles in the City'. This series of shows will bring speed dating to the major population centres in Jamaica, namely Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril.
"People really welcome the concept", said Lloyd. "We target online daters and say come to the party." According to Lloyd, the parties are so popular that persons from countries such as Barbados and Bermuda have come to Jamaica to attend one.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Organisers of these dating services have discarded the term 'speed dating', for the more politically correct 'social networking'.
According to Lloyd, Hooked! aims "to get single professionals to come out and have a chance to meet. A chance to network within their profession. We create dating opportunities."
Frazer uses the same term to describe Vibes Connect's new mantra.
"A lot of people who are single don't like to say they're single. With the social networking site, once you become a member you can invite your friends and meet other friends," he said. "Instead of just creating a dating network, you create a professional network. Dating will still be there. When signing up you tell the site what you're there for job networking, to meet people, find a date, connect with an alumnus. It's a wider thing than just dating."
Nonetheless, Lloyd says the chances of singles 'hooking up' at the Hooked! singles parties, attended mainly by men and women aged 25-55 years, are good.
SERIOUS BUSINESS
At these parties, dating is serious business. Each person is given a secret connection code (SCC), which matches that of three other persons. Each of the three possible connections is given 30 minutes to socialise and connect.
"If you meet all three persons and you are not interested, you can come back and get another code", she says. "At least half of the persons actually hook up after the party."
Actual testimonials of this were not forthcoming, however, as, according to Lloyd, Hooked! keeps the identities of its clients confidential. "It's something that we want to keep intimate", she says.
At the first, and as yet, only Vibes Connect party, the procedure was similar.
"When they come to the party we give them a specially crafted item with numbers on it," said Frazer. Each number has a match, which the singles will discover while "mixing and mingling".
Based on online testimonials, it seems the rate of persons 'hooking up' online is better than at singles' parties.
'Jachic' proclaims on vibesconnect.com/testimonials.html "I have finally found him". He/she goes on further to claim: "My spouse and I would like to say a BIG thank you to Vibes Connect for making our connection possible. We met over a month ago and within weeks we knew we were destined for each other. We have now committed ourselves to a promising and trustworthy relationship."
Another user of the service, 'Natalia1', seemed to have 'netted' the perfect catch. She states: "I've met this one person and he's incredible. I could not have asked for anything better. We went out on dates for the weekend, he flew all the way here to see me this weekend... we went sightseeing and visited many romantic places... we are in love".
STILL SEARCHING
However, not everyone goes on the site or to the parties with the same intention and, consequently, not everyone has the same luck in finding Mr. or Miss Right.
Chastity who is 'still searching' says "I realised that most of the men I exchanged phone numbers with are from Toronto. They were just looking for friends, as they are already had committed to other women. They are just acting like typical Black men, who always want more than they can handle."
Sheldon Reid, 21, has been to a singles' party but says he did not go with the intention of connecting with anyone. "You just go for fun. It's a party," he says. Sheldon, who describes himself as 'engaged' , says that persons often go to singles' parties just to see what their options would be if they were looking for someone.
"Singles parties are naturally nice. Sometimes people sneak out and go, even though they are in a relationship. They go to see what type of other fish are out there," he said. Another attraction, according to him, is that "the females outnumber the males" at such parties.
Nonetheless, Sheldon believes that singles' parties are to "find somebody to have fun with", not for anything serious. "It's not the environment in which I want to find my significant other. I just think that's kinda lame," he says. "For those who really go to find someone, they just nuh have nuh game."
Toni-Ann Palmer, 18, went to Vibes Connect's party earlier this year to "find somebody", but says she was disappointed with the outcome. "I doubt it there were three couples there who found each other," she said. "Not that we couldn't find somebody on our own, but that party is for singles so you go to find somebody who is single."
However, this is not always the case, according to Toni-Ann: "Some of these guys are not really single. They're with somebody and they're not really satisfied. Some of them just want more and more."
