Frequently Asked Questions

You must sign up in advance, and you do need to pre-pay. The reason for this is that we have to confirm who is coming in order to organize the event with an equal number of men and women. Sign up as soon as you know you can attend as events often fill up quickly!

The registration fee is $32.

While we prefer online booking, if that doesn't work for you please feel free to contact us and we'll be happy to make other arrangements.

Please give at least five days notice and we will gladly give you a full refund. However, as Madcity Speed Dating events are dependent on participant attendance, we do not offer refunds for cancellations of fewer than five days notice or if you do not attend.

The time frame is approximate, but most events last about 2 hours.

We've been holding most of our events at the Brink Lounge lately, but we've used a variety of local restaurants in the past. Among them, Delaney's Steakhouse, Hawthorn's, The Avenue Bar, Houlihan's, The Brink Lounge, Essen Haus, Cloud 9 Grille, Pedro's, Come Back In, Mexicali Rose, Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, Bucatini Trattoria, and J.T. Whitney's. Additionally, we are always open to suggestions so if you have a favorite location that you would like to recommend, please let us know!

Naturally, the number of people attending any given event often fluctuates. We generally plan on having 9 to 15 pairs at each event. After experimenting with different numbers and ratios in the past, we have learned that a successful event requires at least 9 and no more than 15 pairs. Though filling a room with singles may seem like a good way to improve the odds of a match, any more than 15 dates in one night is a lot more fun in theory than it is in practice!

Absolutely not! We make no pretenses that couples truly get to know one another in under eight minutes. Then again, that's not the point! Madcity Speed Dating operates with the belief that most singles know if they're at least slightly interested within a relatively short period of time. It's about personal chemistry. Madcity Speed Dating events are simply a way to meet many, available people in a single night. Where couples go from there is up to them!

While there is no formal dress code at these events, we recommend that participants dress "smart casual", which is to say, dress as you would for any other date. The main thing is to be confident and allow your natural personality to shine through. One of the easiest ways to do this is to dress in something that makes you feel comfortable, so don't over do it.

I'm just outside of an age group, but I prefer to date younger/older.

Can I attend the event?

After careful consideration, we have decided to allow one or two singles outside the advertised age range to attend each event. However, this exception applies only to people a year or two outside the cutoff. In order to maintain the integrity of the age brackets, we ask that you clear it with us before signing up. This allows us to make sure that the majority of the people in attendance fall within the advertised age range.

To keep the events low pressure, un-awkward and comfortable for everyone, there are two rules you need to know. 1. You may not ask anyone for their contact information (phone number, e-mail address, last name, etc.) or ask anyone out on a date. 2. You may not ask sexually explicit questions or say anything that may be interpreted as threatening in any way.

If the event is full, we encourage you to still contact us so we can add you to the waiting list. Between last minute obligations and good old fashioned “cold feet”, seats do occationally re-open. When this occurs, the seat is given to the next person on the waiting list.

A typical Madcity Speed Dating event breaks down as follows:

The events begin promptly at 7:00, though we ask everyone to arrive at 6:30 which allows plenty of time for registrations. During registration, each person is welcomed by the hosts and given everything they'll need for the evening. Once all participants have arrived, the hosts explain the matchcards and the evening’s procedures. Each participant starts out in an assigned seat and, at the ring of the bell, engages in the first of several "mini-dates." At the end of the evening, participants answer the question of whether or not they would like to meet their counterpart again in the future by making the appropriate notations on their match card. Each date lasts 6 minutes with an additional 30 second “buffer” period between dates. When the time is up, the men rotate tables while the women remain seated. This process continues until midway through the event, when a brief break is taken for bathroom use and, if desired, a trip to the bar. After the break, the event resumes, with the second half following the same format as the first. After the end of the final date all the score cards are collected and the tabulations begin! The hosts usually stick around for a while after our events and we encourage everyone to continue mingling as well. Once we have the results worked out, we send each speed dater an email with the contact information of their matches. After that, the rest is up to you!

We understand that speed daters are often anxious to get their results, so we do all we can to send them out within 24 hours of the event. Results within 48 hours are guaranteed.

Absolutely! Sometimes finding that special someone can be a numbers game and we are more than willing to accommodate individuals wanting to participate in multiple events. In fact, we encourage it!

It is possible, but the vast majority will be new faces. If you want to know if a particular person who you previously met will be in attendance, please feel free to contact us.