The bar was packed. The drinks were cold. It party Thursday. The company also hosts dating events, with the same basic premise: Block off Thursday night. Leave your house. Find somebody to love.

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Last Thursday night, around motivated singles descended into Persona, a basement bar near Union Square, for an event hosted by the app. Sipping cocktails flavored with beet, matcha, and fungi, attendees swarmed the candlelit room, pairing off to talk at small tables or taking solo laps around the space, dating strategic eye contact. San Francisco has seen a resurgence of analog dating, with a proliferation of speed-dating eventsgroup setupsand date.hookup odd personal ad on a telephone pole.

But even an IRL gathering comes with downsides.

San Francisco Bay Area Singles Events

The obvious ingredients for a successful dating event — a large number of eager people and no screen distractions — were the same things that some attendees actively disliked. Classic dating app issues also carried over. A live-action ghosting occurred: Party man abandoned his conversation partner mid-sentence to dash across the room, intercept party woman dating the exit, and ask for her contact information. As some couples started to paired off at tables, others reported frustration, nonetheless continuing to pace back and forth across the bar.

Loneliness, dating, was not the prevailing feeling at Persona.

Let's Get Cheeky!

The crucible of one urgent night did have people planning to spend time together, many of them as friends. Two men exchanged details and agreed to go clubbing together. In the bathroom, four women went around in a circle sharing their astrological signs, chatting happily even though each stall was unoccupied. Another pair of men made plans to play pickleball. They exchanged details and agreed to get together — maybe, even, on a Friday.

Share Share. By Jenny Singer Published Sep. Copy link to this article.