As many of you know, I’m not the biggest fan of online dating. Sure it has its perks but at the end of the day (at least for me) nothing beats meeting up face to face.

With that in mind, I decided to take up an invitation from the lovely people at speeddater.co.uk to come down and see what they’re all about - with some surprising results.

I have to be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. There’s long been a stigma associated with such events, is it just going to be older people, divorcees and that creepy guy at work who won’t stop staring? But as the likes of Tinder becomes increasingly more socially acceptable (do you know anyone who hasn’t got it these days?) I wondered if the same could now be said of speed dating?

Whenever someone mentioned speed dating in the past I would instantly think of ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ and ‘Gina’ (remember her?). But to my surprise I found an array of, well, just really nice people! Doctors, air hostesses, hairdressers, teachers you name it, even the ‘cat lady’ wasn’t too bad looking.

I don’t know if previous assumptions about speed dating were in any way true having never tried it before, but whatever it was it’s now become an event for fun, young, non-creepy professionals, honestly!

Glasgow Times:

One thing I did learn, however, was that when they say ‘speed’ dating they really do mean speed dating!

Maybe it was just me but by the end I felt like I’d been on some kind of intensive dating boot-camp, as soon as that bells ring you’re off to the next date – I was bloody shattered! Four minutes really is a quick date, but that’s also a good thing.

Imagine having an awful date but you have to spend four hours with them sitting in a bar spending a fortune? I reckon you can normally tell if a date is going to be a success within five minutes of meeting someone anyway, so speed dating really does cover your back a little bit.

In the past I’ve always said it’s important to approach dating of any form in the right way. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and don’t pin your hopes of finding the one on every poor bugger you meet. Whether you like them or not, treat it as a fun night out and that’s exactly what I’ve learnt speed dating is. Plus, if you’re single what do you really have to lose?

From a male perspective I would say it’s a perfect opportunity to get the guys out, have a couple of drinks and chat to some nice girls – what more could you expect from a rainy Tuesday night in Glasgow? As for the girls, they’ve already got the right idea, not a single girl came alone - not that I expected anything else of course.

Glasgow Times:

After the event I caught up with organizer Danielle Waller who echoed my thoughts about meeting someone in person and dating in general: “I love the social aspect of speed dating and the fast/fun format. Every night is different and four minutes is a perfect taster to learn about someone, have a laugh and leave you wanting more. Online dating is great but meeting people in real life over a cheeky vino is what dating is really all about.”

“I think singles events and online dating are much more widely accepted nowadays than they used to be, but I guess there will always be haters! Even if I look at my own friends, I would struggle to find anyone who hasn’t succumb to the curiosity and given online dating or dating events a go.”

Glasgow Times:

Last time out I spoke about catfishing, a genuine concern for many singletons and, again this is one of the positives of speed dating, catfishing just isn’t an issue. Obviously you can’t stop people from telling little white lies here and there, but at least there’s no question marks over appearance or dodgy camera angles!

So the next time you and your single pals fancy a glass or two after work, why not give speed dating a go? If anything you’re guaranteed a fun night out and a few stories for the office in the morning!

The company runs two events every month in Glasgow for a variety of age groups, you can view all the Glasgow events at www.speeddater.co.uk/cities/Glasgow. Try anything once right?

Next time I’ll be focusing on the girls, giving the male perspective on when a guy wants to take things to the next level, third date or third vodka maybe? We’ll see.

As ever send your questions and stories to me at paulthomasbell@hotmail.com or follow me on Twitter @paulthomasbell.

Happy Dating!!