Dating Events Project

The Chronicles of Black Dating Society

JUST JUMP?!

The What: Black Dating Society is a social experiment that I spun up in Austin, Texas. My Goal was to create a space for single professionals of color to date and network.

The Why: I personally found it difficult to navigate the dating world in a majority white city. In Austin, it was rare that I saw anyone that looked like me. This was compounded when it came to dating. The more I spoke to others, the more I saw a need to create something.

The Outcomes: This project took on a life of it’s own. Through user interviews, feedback, and overwhelming participation a community platform was born.

From Experiment to Movement…

SOMETHING SPECIAL

It’s just a mixer

On June 13th, 2018, I hosted my first dating mixer at Academia Austin. I’d previously attended a networking event at the venue and was immediately inspired to get singles in a room together.

I sparked up conversation with the general manager, expressed my goals and as luck would have it, we were in alignment. It was off to the races.

Academia was a Hogwarts, English Prep School themed bar and all I could think was, “The Black Dating Society meeting is on Wednesday. Just like that, it was solidified. I threw together a flyer and posted on eventbrite, the rest is history!

All designs by me…

BUILDING MOMENTUM

THE DATA GRAB

Because I’m UX to the core, I wanted to see trends and insights. Was this something the market even wanted? As you probably have surmised by reading my other projects, I’m an explorer. I should probably just change my site to iExploreStuff.com!

The only way for me to get this data was to hold the event on a continual basis. I ran the mixer from June to November. The market participation was staggered, my initial mixer produced over 100 total guest, August only produced one. That was one of my first data points, Wednesday is probably not the best day to host the event.

I also noticed that attached persons would come to the event as a means to network. Interesting. After a few more mixers, I realized that not only did Austin need a dating space for people of color, it needed more avenues for minority networking in general.

Research Methods

I’d always greet my guest and ask if they’d be interested in giving feedback. Most of them loved to vent about the horrors of dating. I took most insights on the spot.

I published a few online surveys but found that face to face conversations were more impactful. Folks were more eager to open up about what they needed.

SEEING THE PATTERNS

After a a few months, I wanted to raise the stakes and see what sort of contrasting info’ I could grab. I wanted to test the events on Wednesday theory and gauge how singles interacted in environments with more stimulation than adult beverages.

I found a really cool spot, centrally located in Austin for convenience. Everything went according to plan at the beginning. Twenty women showed up! Not a man in sight. We turned it into a girls night but I learned a few key things. People in Austin are accustomed to a SXSW, free swag, free everything lifestyle. Also, men might not be that adventurous. Lessons learned. What’s next?

Building my own Ad Network

I quickly learned that some of the popular advertising platforms didn’t favor dating ad campaigns. It was getting harder to spread the word but I found a silver lining through partnerships.

For a Halloween event, I worked with a wonderful organization that creates tech programs for minority girls called Latinitas. I’m really appreciative of their willingness to take a chance with my vision.

The event didn’t meet my expectations from a participation standpoint but the network that I created was much more valuable. This event validated my theory that people want free events.

Please check out Latinitas and support the elevation of young girls in tech!

Partnerships

TURNING POINT

At the top of 2019, I used what I’d gathered the previous year to try a different type of event. A panel discussion with dating topics. I found natural collaborators in different industries. The participation was phenomenal, the event was standing room only.

People were completely engaged the entire time. They were asking when the next panel discussion would be. Interesting. This event challenged my mid-week event theory because the space was over capacity.

It seemed I was on to something with the panel discussion. I also realized that I was now providing a service to single people.

WHAT THEY ASKED FOR

Intimate Settings

I wanted to test out the idea of less is more. This event would be a 180 from the previous but I wanted to see if there was value. For Valentine’s Day, I opened up 20 spots for a one on one paid dating experience. I learned that it’s definitely easier to connect with someone in this setting devoid the pressure folks feel from the paradox of choice.

Though the turn out was favorable, I noticed the pattern reaffirmed that people may not be interested in paid events.

I’ve also held a few workshops where there was a small class room style conversation with a relationship coach. I learned that people are willing to pay for events but a nominal fee. T

From Mixers to a Movement