Zero to Romance in Three Minutes Flat

By Sora Song

Since 1999, when a Los Angeles rabbi, Yaacov Deyo, co-author of Speed Dating: The Smarter, Faster Way to Lasting Love, divined a way to get Jewish singles to mingle, scores of speed-dating services have popped up, offering time-pressed lonely hearts a chance to meet dozens of prospective partners in a single evening. One such service, HurryDate, launched in New York City two years ago, now runs dating events in 50 cities in the U.S., Canada and Britain--and points with pride to its first engaged couple (set to wed this June). TIME went to a session in New York City to survey the scene.

Nearly 100 buoyant singles arrived at a low-lit downtown lounge and were outfitted with name tags, numbers and score-cards. The women stayed seated while the men hustled among them, meeting for three minutes apiece in a highly structured, musical chairs--style round robin. The sessions are designed for equal numbers of both sexes, but women outnumbered men at this event, so each woman ended up with unexpected (but welcome) rest periods.

Conversations revolved mostly around careers. Few were memorable. One speechwriter had so little to say about himself that it was hard to imagine him putting words in other people's mouths. Of the 20 guys I talked with, none left more than a nebulous memory.

At the end of the evening, we turned in our scorecards, with each potential mate marked yes or no. Albert, No. 52, was thrilled. "I felt like a kid in a candy store," he said. "And I walked out of there with a buzz." I left with more of a headache--but also with the phone numbers of two lawyers, Sandy and Margarita. They're girls. And we're going to a bar next week to dish about guys.