Why should singles or monogamous couples have all the fun?  That’s what Pepper Mint, Luke, and the other Poly Speed Dating organizers said to themselves a few years back, when they created the highly successful Poly Speed Dating events. Armed with moxie, a desire to serve the poly/open communities, and some wicked programming skills, they created a unique algorithm to allow the poly/open communities to experience the entertainment and relationship hookup possibilities inherent in “dating” 10 people — or groups of people — all in one evening.

I’ve been to a few PSD events myself, and they’re quite the ride.  Anywhere from dozens to in at least one case several hundreds of eager polyamorous/open people crowd into a room organized into groups of chairs, usually by twos, but in some cases in clumps. Daters can specify a dizzying array of options, including dating as a single, being open to (or only) dating groups, sexual orientation, gender (including several beyond the standard binary M or F), kinkiness (or lack thereof, called “vanilla”), geographical preferences, and other items.  Less specificity might get you more dates; more specificity may get you fewer dates, but ones that are more in tune with your particular wants and needs.  Each date lasts a few minutes, and daters have the opportunity to say whether they’d be open to more contact later.  Only if BOTH parties match on that, does the computer program reveal contact information to both parties. (After that, it’s up to you to do something about it.)

Since their inception, they’ve become popular in the SF Bay Area, and have spawned several sub-varieties, such as the specifically Queer-Friendly events.  Last year, the biggest ever (so far!) PSD took place in the ballroom at the highly successful “OPEN-SF” conference. [And for those who are interested, I have word from the organizers that YES, there is another OPEN-SF conference planned for 2014!  Hooray!  More news as I hear it.]

Now, Poly Speed Dating is going to Boston, and it promises to be one of the events of the year. (Hey, Alan, since it’s in your own backyard, are you gonna be there??)  Here are the details (you can get lots more at the PSD event page, too.)