Cincinnati, Ohio — Ross Rohling and Carlee Berns are like any other couple in their 20s. But what is unusual is that they met in person.
“When we tell people that we met at a singles event, they’re like, ‘No way, they still have those?’ I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, you should go,'” Berns told CBS News.
The couple, who have been together for about 18 months and recently got engaged, met at an event hosted by Date Cincy.
It was just the second event put on by Cincinnati natives and childhood friends Paige Brailey and Logan Moore. They launched a matchmaking event series for people who’ve grown sick of swiping for dates and are looking to connect in person.
“It seems like the millennials are the ones who kind of make up the bulk of our events,” Brailey said.
Millennials, those between the ages of about 29 and 45, were the first to get on dating apps, and the first to get off of them, according to Beresford Research. Gen Zers, the generation between the ages of 13 and 28, use the apps even less, Beresford Research found.
“So now there’s this craving and this yearning for just, time like this, right, where we’re just connecting face-to-face with other humans,” Brailey said.
At Date Cincy’s events, anywhere between 50 and 800 singles show up with a common goal and without the ability to hide who they really are, like some people do online.
“You meet them in person, and then it’s like, oh, well, we actually have nothing in common, or you’re not who I thought you were,” Moore said.
The dating app Bumble has lost 90% of its value since going public four years ago. Dating and singles events are increasingly popular, with attendance rising by 42% from 2022 to 2023, according to the ticketing platform Eventbrite.
“It’s probably going to be awkward, just acknowledge it will be awkward,” Berns said of the in-person dating experience. “And just go in with an open mind, and who knows, maybe you’ll meet someone and go on a first date and it goes well.”
Rohling and Berns are among the many Date Cincy couples that the group counts among their success stories of love at first sight.
“I knew within the first month that I was going to marry her,” Rohling said.
It’s a chemistry that can only happen face-to-face.
“It’s just part of the human nature,” Rohling said. “You get filled with a passion, you get filled with excitement and energy because you feel that chemistry.”
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