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# It’s a date, now hurry up and get on with it
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/its-a-date-now-hurry-up-and-get-on-with-it/
- Published: 2004-04-10T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:12:31.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Finding Mr. or Mrs. Right might only take a couple of seconds*

*By JAMIE WETHERBE Special to the Daily Press*

Dating dozens of men in one night made me feel dirty.

But it was definitely an efficient way of getting down to business in the quest of finding Mr. Right while weeding out the inferior within a few minutes, and in some cases, seconds.

That’s the idea behind a New York City-based company that recently brought its services to Santa Monicans who want to meet someone, quick.

HurryDate, which started about three years ago, is a part of the new trend of “speed dating,” a hybrid between online dating and, well, actual dating.

Operating in more than 65 cities across the United States, Canada and England, HurryDate charge singles $37 to go on several three-minute dates in one night.

“We know you aren’t going to decide if you want marry someone in three minutes,” said HurryDate co-founder Adele Testani. “But our parties are organized so you do meet 25 potential dates in one night.”

At Gotham Hall on the Third Street Promenade, which hosted a HurryDate event last month for straight 25- to 35-year-olds, I went on about 16 dates. And apparently the prospect of finding the man of their dreams is on the minds of many women because a HurryDate hostess had to grab another guy from the bar to even the male-to-female ratio.

After arriving at the bar, HurryDate hostesses seated me at a table-for-two, while the men rotated — musical-chairs style until I had dated everyone once. The hostess, who used to be a former cheerleader, blew a whistle at the end of each date to keep my dates moving.

Despite the whistle and choreographed seating arrangements, the men still messed up the rotation several times, and I ended up sitting alone, staring at the wall.

During my mini-dates, the men sat across from me at the table, and depending on who it was, our three minutes together had different meanings. I initially feared that only mutants from the planet Desperate would pay to do such a thing, and indeed, there were those who reeked of insecurity. A few of them were from different countries, and I couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying because their accents were so thick. They couldn’t understand me either.

Listening to some of my dates conjured up memories of sitting on the couch watching a TV commercial: I make this much, I drive this car, etc. One guy spent three minutes having a lovely conversation with my boobs.

But I did meet a couple of seemingly nice guys, who were maybe just a little too shy for the high-impact LA dating scene and preferred more of a traditional date.

After every date, HurryDaters indicate on a scorecard whether they’d like to see each person again, which typically happened as the men left the table. I couldn’t help trying to check out my date’s card to see how I was doing, but everyone covered their scores too well — like we were taking our SATs.

Daters then can enter their “yes” and “no” responses onto the company Web site, which uses ID numbers — no full names, so people can dodge unwanted advances.

If both daters said “yes” to each other, they can get in touch via HurryDate’s e-mail system. The company posts profiles with photos online to help daters remember who they met, which is helpful since I’d already forgotten most of their names by the time I left the bar.

While several of the daters said they’d HurryDated before and gotten a date or two out of the deal, company officials say others have more long-term success.

In San Francisco one HurryDate couple this month will turn three minutes into matrimony. Simon Hayhurst and Summer Roberts met at an event in January of 2003 and will tie the knot on April 13, HurryDate officials said.

HurryDate offers parties for other age groups — including 21 to 29-year-olds and for those over 40\. Although no one will check your birth certificate.

“If you are older or younger than the age range for a particular party, we won’t tell if you don’t tell,” the company Web site said. “Just pick the group that you feel most comfortable HurryDating within.”

Parties are offered for straight and gay singles, and niche events include HurryDating for Catholic, Christian, Jewish, African-American and Latin singles.

And while the company promotes the importance of, albeit short, face-to-face dating, HurryDate has also launched an online dating service.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 10, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/041004.pdf?ref=smdp.com)