Ola Zdzarska & Allison Johnson, Founders of Fishbowl Events

Allison Johnson , co-founder of FishBowl Events shares some very insightful and humorous views about Speeddating in Beijing!

When did you start and what inspired you launch Fishbowl Events?
Formerly, for lack of creativity, we were named The Speedating Specialists, haha, which is still the first hit when you search “speed dating Beijing”.  My partner and I’s inspiration for Speed Dating was simple, we organized a party for our single girlfriends because we wanted to hear the gossip about their love lives  Our motivation for the other events was to continue meeting interesting people regardless of their relationship status.  In a city like Beijing, most of us need a strong social network because we are away from our families and classmates.  Our events are one way to expand and strengthen your social circle.

We chose the name Fishbowl because just like in an aquarium, when you are forced to mingle with different fish who you are too shy approach or wouldn’t necessarily bump into, it can be a beautiful combination.  The name is also based on the “there are other fish in the sea” concept.

How many events have you organized so far?
We’ve organized at least one event a month for the last 3 years. In 2009 we picked up the pace and often held two events a month but work schedules and life can sometimes get in the way.

What is the most unique /creative event you have organized or plan to organize?
That would be our “Bring Something Old, Take Something New” party for Valentine’s Day.  The slogan was “bring a friend you would never date, take a friend you would love to mate.” Instead of selling yourself, like you tend to do in a speed dating, we had friend pairs sit in a group of four or six people.  Instead of talking about themselves, they sold the good characteristics of their buddies.  It gave people an opportunity to learn things about others that they may not have mentioned about themselves and to see a different side of the person selling the friend.  It also took the pressure off of introducing yourself.

Another interesting event was Double Your Luck Speed Dating where we had two groups of speed daters. We organized the two groups based on their compatibility. After the speed dating rounds there was an open mingle between the two groups over appetizers and therefore double your chance to meet more hotties.

How is your group different from the others?
There are plenty of singles clubs/groups in Beijing but there is no other company that can boast of all English speakers and a good balance of expats.   In Hong Kong this is not hard to come by but in Beijing it’s a rarity.  Additionally we are proud of the quality of our participants.  If they weren’t interesting people we would close shop because honestly the money is not good enough to rationalize the time we spend.

Another important thing is the potential in each of our parties, you many not meet the love of your of your life but you will probably walk away with good professional and social contacts.  In fact many of our participants use our parties for just that.

How many registered members do you currently have?
We don’t have members, we are not into spamming so we keep our mailing list fresh and updated because people are often moving to and from Beijing. We have a mailing list of 1000 people and approximately 1000 have attended our events previously.

What is the key to your success?
Other people, groups and restaurants have tried organizing speed dating in Beijing. The secret to our success is the quality of our guests and the organization.  Speed dating is about even numbers, we work hard to ensure that there is a balance and that everyone who registers takes their participation seriously.  This requires a lot of leg work and a personable side to the registration process.  We try to get to know our participants as best as we can before we meet them the day of the event.  We have also canceled events because the participants were just not compatible. If we don’t have a good feeling about the group, we aren’t afraid to wait until we have new fish to keep things exciting.

As a promoter, what are your biggest challenges in this line of work?
Our biggest challenge is the fluctuation in Beijing’s English speaking population. In order to expand the social circle of our guests we have to keep expanding our own social circle and finding ways to get to newcomers in Beijing.  Beijing is filled with misleading advertisements and scams. Our guests need to trust us in order to participate in something where you are putting your heart on the line. Trust is easy once they’ve participated, it’s getting them to register that can be the hard part.

Besides Speeddating Events, what other activities do you organize?
We organize Speed Networking (naturally) which is tailored to interests such as artists and creative types, readers and writers, etc open to everyone regardless of relationship status. We also organize Table for 8, a three course dinner with 8 people hand selected, 4 men, 4 women.  Hook N Cook, which is held in a teaching kitchen and together we make and have dinner. The ingredients and recipes are all set out and you and your partner are in charge of making one dish.  And we organize the occasional open party such as Lock & Key and Swap Meet.

What is your advice to someone who is too shy or nervous to go Speeddating?
Speed Dating can be a nerve racking experience but I encourage people to remember that everyone is in the same boat.  They may be worried that people are sizing them up but they will be making judgements about others too.  After a couple of rounds and a couple of drinks, people loosen up and enjoy the process more.  Remember, it is not an eternal interview, once we ring the bell you are free.  I wished I could have tried Speed Dating before getting trapped in a long term relationship, haha.  That’s why I have to organize them because I’m not allowed to participate.

What can your guests expect at your events?
Gracious hosts, beautiful venues, strong drinks, and a group of people you’ve never met before and a whole lot you’ll never want to meet again.  Of course not, just kidding, it is unrealistic to say you will go home with 30 new friends but we guarantee you will make some interesting contacts and be pleasantly surprised about your experience.

How would you describe the people who join your events?  More expats or locals?
We have a fair mix of expats and locals but all are English speakers.  The females are about 50/50 expat/local Chinese but this fluctuates from party to party.  Unfortunately we do not get many local Chinese men at Speed Dating aside from foreign born Chinese (ABCs, BBCs, etc).  We do get more English speaking Chinese men at our open parties where there is less pressure for one on one conversation.  Western men aren’t afraid of one on one   We encourage more local Chinese guys to try out Speed Dating and not let any stereotypes they’ve heard about dating foreign women stand in their way.

Do more men or women sign up for your events and why?
Men and women have different registering styles, the women seem to be very organized and want to plan a week in advance. The men, on the other hand, can’t commit to the event until the last minute, sometimes just a few hours before.

Since you started, have there been any changes in attitudes towards speeddating?
I think the change happens through word of mouth.  We haven’t seen a change in the mass perception of speed dating but we do know that friends who have attended are the best way to encourage their reluctant friends to go.  Most of our registrations are based on word of mouth references.  From survey’s we’ve done 99% of our participants would recommend the event to a friend.

Are there seasons or special days (ie: Valentines day) that are generally more popular for speeddating?
Valentine’s Day is a great day to get people to test the waters of speed dating.  Any doubts they had before go out the door because they prefer doing something interesting than staying home alone.

Do your events benefit and social or charitable causes?  If so, which ones?
We’ve held various charitable events such as the Bachelor Auction and Charity Speed Dating.  At the Charity Bachelor Auction we held shortly after the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008, most of the bachelors we sold were past speed dating participants.  We sold 2 Olympic athletes and raised 10,000 RMB for earthquake relief.  There were about 150 women in attendance and it really was an unforgettable night.

Charity Speed Dating is not only is it a great way to gather money for a good cause and spread awareness about that group, it is a good way to get like-minded people together.  People who are interested in participating in a Charity Speed Dating already have something in common, they enjoy contributing to a worthy cause.

With all the events you organize, how do you find a balance with your personal life?
Organizing events is not a boring task.  We both love doing it and hardly think of it as a job.  We get excited to see the faces of the people we have been communicating with over email and love to see the chemistry between them. After a good party we are always hyped up and ready for a drink with our guests. Plus we are not only business partners but also best friends so while our guests are busy chatting away during the speed dating rounds, we are busy catching up on gossip.  The parties for us are exactly that, parties, where we meet cool people while hangin’ with our best friend.

What is your vision for the future of Fishbowl Events?
There are a lot of resources out there to find out what’s going on around town in Beijing but they cant guarantee the quality of the event or location.  We would like to be the one stop location where people can go to when they are interested in attending an event that is guaranteed to have cool people.  I’m not talking about techno parties or happy hours, I’m talking about networking and social events small enough to actually meet new people and make new connections.  We want to facilitate those new connections to expand the network in Beijing.

If there is one message you would like to share with our readers, what would it be?
Don’t judge a book by its cover.  That goes for your perception of speed dating and of the stranger next to you.  You never know what you can learn about a person in 6 minutes.  You just gotta ask the right question.

To contact Allison or Ola directly, please email:  party@fishbowlevents.com
Or visit their website:  http://fishbowlevents.com/

Photos courtesy of Fishbowl Events