Juay, CMB’s CEO, said that the event was an attempt to create a space for offline dating.
“Even though we’re a dating app, we’ve always believed that real connections happen offline,” she said. “This event was our way of creating more spaces for that to happen, and we’re excited to keep experimenting with new ways to make dating more intentional, real, and a lot more fun.”
One of the participants, Adlin Jaya, came with her work bestie. She told me she was looking for a night out and to make new friends.
“Being a critical care nurse, we rarely get nights out like these, so when the opportunity came, we thought it’d be fun,” Jaya, 29, told me.
She said she had tried dating apps, but they hadn’t worked for her — she confessed to being a poor texter — and she disliked the men she had talked to on the apps.
“I’d love to meet someone in person. It’s easier to suss out vibes,” she said. She added that she was “awfully introverted,” and putting herself out there in a roomful of strangers was like exposure therapy.
