Use dates as an opportunity to broaden your social circle

Sunday 4 December (from 7.30pm at 623 In The City) will be the last Duck Soup networking night for the year!  I hope you’ve got some fun summer plans happening with your other single friends…. if not, come along tonight prepared to hand out your phone number or email address to ensure you’re invited to some events, bbqs and parties..

Dating is one of the best friend finders there is. I read recently some advice from an elder statesman who said that we should all try and make one new friend every five years. What excellent advice. When we are very young we collect friends like sweets. As we get older we lose some along the way kind of like natural wastage. We fall out and we fall in, we change and adapt and we end up with a core group of our best friends, usually quite small but reliable and close. I think its fair to say that most of us will never have more than a handful of extremely close friends as we grow older simply because its not possible to have very close relationships with so many people. Best friends require maintenance.

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Categories: Dating Tips, Monthly Mingle
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Duck Soup was mentioned in the Nelson Mail article “Love Bytes” this weekend exploring some of the experiences of local Nelson people dating online.

Have a read here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/weekend/6040331/Love-bytes

Here is the snippet about Duck Soup:

In 2008, fed up with online dating, Nelson woman Adrienne Ford started a social group for singles aged over 30.

Duck Soup makes the internet dating experience more “efficient”, she says. A single mum, it took her too long to find, message and meet potential matches, and the usual blind coffee date required a heap of self-esteem and self-confidence, often ending in disappointment.

Duck Soup has been a success. Between 60 and 100 unattached Nelsonians turn up regularly to social events in the city on the first Sunday of each month, and Ms Ford also arranges activities like dessert nights, meeting at local events and festivals, and going on trips.

Although some are there simply to make new friends, about half of her attendees have tried internet dating.

She encourages daters to use a Duck Soup event as their first “offline” meeting place.

“Online dating is good, but real-life meeting early on is a good augmentation to online dating,” she says. “It’s crucial.”

At some point, you still have to get offline and do it the old-fashioned way.

For all those new to Duck Soup and willing to give it a try – see you on Sunday 4 December at 623 In The City from 7.30pm.  Come and meet me on the door and I’ll give you a name-tag and introduce you to someone friendly who’ll start off your night of networking.

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I’m very excited to have Groove Collective playing at Duck Soup this week! We’ve never had a band play before so it will add a new dynamic to our networking and will provide some fun & friendly moments on the dance floor! Please come along and perch on a stool if you have two left feet – NO-ONE will make you dance and you can still sing along.

From 7.30pm at 623 In The City on Hardy Street in Nelson.

An email message that stood out to me this month was a man asking to be removed from the Duck Soup event reminder list because he was now in a relationship & no longer single. Then he told me how he met his new partner…. you’ll be very surprised to hear the rest of the story…

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What would it happen if I made a habit of walking up to a complete stranger and introducing myself? In the past few months I have tried to be intentional about doing just that. I have done it in airports, at the gym, and restaurants. I had no idea of what to expect. Would people be annoyed? Would they look at me with the you-are-creeping-me-out stare? Would they dismiss or ignore me? Not really. People’s reactions have surprised me.

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Duck Soup provides you with an opportunity to network with a room full of other singles over 30 years old living in Nelson.  Bring your courage and your best impression and work the room with purpose and a positive mind.

Where else can you access so many people in the same ‘season’ of life as you?  Although not everyone at Duck Soup is interested in finding a potential relationship, this is where you can practice your conversation skills and get back in the saddle of meeting strangers.

After coming along to Duck Soup a few times you will find yourself more approachable in your everyday life; you will have a more relaxed and comfortable manner when speaking with new people; and your brain won’t

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Categories: Dating Tips, Monthly Mingle
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