Thursday, August 28, 2008

Age Groups

Age groups of Singles Events

I just sent out an email confirmation to attendees of this Saturdays event reconfirming the date, time and specifics. The email included the following:

Event: SLY FOX INN- Women 39-50 and Men 41-53 (one year grace period): Proof of age required. Anyone misrepresenting their age will not be allowed to participate and is not eligible for a refund.


I immediately received a phone call with the following conversation:

Mandy:


Hi, just got the email about this Saturday. It said that the women go up to age 50, but I am 53. Is that a problem?


Jay
I am sorry Mandy, but it is a problem. We really do stick to the ages we advertise, with a one year grace period and require proof of age at the event.



Mandy
I didn't know, or must have misread the ages when signing up.


Jay
I will be right back, I need to look at your reservation



Jay
Mandy, when you made your reservation, you submitted your year of birth as 1963 indicating you were 45 years old.



Mandy
Oh, Uh, Oh, I made a mistake when making the reservation



Jay
I am sorry Mandy, but we can not have you participate in this event. I do have another event next month for your age bracket and can put you in for that.



Mandy
This is not fair! The men go up to age 53 and it should be the same age bracket for both the men and the women!



Jay
Mandy, I agree, the way we do age brackets may not work for everyone and I am sorry if they do not work for you. There are two issues here, one being that you do not like our policy, and the second being that you misrepresented yourself when making the reservation.
It is not fair for us to advertise one age group to someone and then deliver something else. People pay good money to come to these events and will receive what is advertised.



Mandy
Ok, I still do not like your policy, but put me in for next months event at the Sly Fox



Age Group Policy

Is it fair that the men's ages skew slightly higher than the women? No, it is not. However about 75% of men we speak with are interested in meeting a woman a little younger. About 60% of the women we speak with are interested in meeting a man that is a little older. Previous speed dating test events where the age ranges of the men and women were the same, had very poor attendance.


Five years ago about 90% of men we spoke with, were only interested in meeting a younger women, so values are starting to change. We will plan on having a mature woman/younger man event in the future.


The bottom line is that this is not a perfect system and it will does not work for everyone. None of my competitors (to my knowledge) checks proof of age at the event, so although they may advertise the same age groups for men and women, nothing is done to ensure this.


Your feedback really does make a difference. This weeks age bracket of Women 39-50 and men 42-53 is a direct result of feedback from a lot of women ages 49 and 50 who felt excluded from a different age bracket we do that has women 37-47 and Men 40-51.


So please email me with your suggestions and ideas at info@WeekendDating.com.
And to the guys who are reading this, if you are open to dating a woman a little bit older, please email me at info@WeekendDating.com so I can set age groups for the Mature Women/ Younger Man event.


Thanks
Jay

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jay- you really should do a older women/ younger men event..I meet men all the time that tell me they prefer an older partner because of our maturity- and women my age- who are succesful- don't necessarily want to date a man that has baggage or an older timeset- we like to enjoy ourselves as much as our younger sisters- and looking for a fun, younger gentleman to spend time and go out and relate with. There is a lot to December/May attraction.

Anonymous said...

I don't attend events that pair older men with younger women even if the age difference is slight. I usually date men my age or had one serious relationship with a younger man. I won't date older men because I find that older men often only date younger and would not even consider a vibrant women their own age. (I just don't feel comfortable encouraging this ageism.) If I found an older man who had also dated within his age range, then he would be someone I would consider.

I might attend an older women/younger men event if it was in my area.

Anonymous said...

I guess because I am a daughter the idea of an older man dating a younger woman is inappropriate. But I have plenty of friends who date younger men. although I DESPISE double standards they will always be so sue me if I use one occasionally.