I went with the attitude of just having fun, and not worrying about whether any of the women would be interested in me or I’d be interested in them. It was a fun little game to keep conversation alive with a total stranger for seven minutes.

I didn’t feel any connection with any of the women there. I put “yes” on my card for several of them who seemed maybe-possibly, but there were no matches, so it looks like the lack of that feeling was mutual.

What was fun was getting access to people I’d never meet or talk with otherwise. Normally, when you don’t have some spark of connection, you don’t even talk for 30 seconds. So seven minutes is actually a pretty long time. It’s simply amazing how different every person is. No two conversations were similar.

The most difficult thing was getting the conversation started. One opener that got things going fairly well was, “Have you lived in Humboldt County your whole life?” That usually led quickly into travel anecdotes, and talk about major goals and events in people’s lives.

One woman said I look like I read books, and she asked me what I’d read lately. I told her about Blink, which I’d just started that morning. I had just read the section on speed dating before leaving for the event! Then I asked her what she’d been reading, and that led quickly to her interest in a certain kind of modern art. I tried the same thing with a couple other women, and that got conversation going in interesting directions.

I preferred talking about books and recent things done to talking about major life goals and events. The latter sounds like a job interview. The former are more fun and I think they tell you more about the person. It’s just spontaneous conversation where the person’s distinctive way of seeing the world expresses itself naturally.

One other tip I hit on: always shake hands when you first meet. That establishes some rapport and makes you each feel like opening up a little more.