Perfect pitch

It’s being billed as the antidote to dating-app fatigue.

And while swiping is off the table there’s still a screen involved, albeit one onstage.

The recruitment drive for romance via PowerPoint slides, Date My Mate events are meet-cutes for a generation done with heavily filtered pictures and AI-polished bios.

The movement shunning online interactions for IRL connection is gaining momentum globally.

Google the term and multiple links to the PowerPoint dating-pitch sessions render on screen listing ticketed events across the world, from Barcelona to Dublin, Stuttgart to Salt Lake City.

In Canada, gatherings have popped up in Toronto and Vancouver and, as of Friday, will become a regular occurrence in Winnipeg.

The premise is simple and straightforward — and therein lies the appeal.

Best friends create a three-to-five-minute PowerPoint presentation on their single friends for an audience of fellow singles in hopes of snagging their mate a date.

The person pitching a pal is required to buy a ticket, as is the audience — the mate gets in free.

Friday’s sold-out mixer at Little Brown Jug features the pitching talents of 12 besties set to hype their single friends — aged between 23 to 35 — to an audience of 60 people. There is no upper age limit for the audience; you just need to be 20 or older.

The evening will be split into two parts, kicking off with six pitches, then a 20-minute break followed by another six pitches.

“We’re so overwhelmed by how positively it has been received.”

The subject of the presentation will be seated onstage, in the Seat of Honour, watching as their bestie extols their virtues via PowerPoint slide decks.

When the presentation is over the audience gets a chance to address questions to the mate seeking a date.

Afterwards there will be a “post-pitch deck mingle period.”

Kate Matthews, 32, will be presenting Leif, her friend of four years, Friday. Matthews has prepared 11 slides covering his vital statistics, hobbies and green flags, among other things.

“He’s not seen the deck but he knows the topics. He’s given me a lot of creative freedom to pitch him,” Matthews says.

Jensen Maxwell and Rob Knaggs, the wedding planners behind Wildest Dreams Wedding Co., decided to introduce the concept here in hopes Winnipeggers would welcome it … and they’ve not been disappointed.

“We’re so overwhelmed by how positively it has been received,” Maxwell says, adding the next Date My Mate has already been set for June 14

The trend has come about as people in search of relationships give their swiping thumbs a break to take a shot at in-person encounters.

“People are sick and tired of dating that way; it’s super monotonous. And a lot of people have been burned by apps.”

“We’ve noticed people are wanting human connection that’s not online, not staring at a screen. Genuine connection in real life, in real time. And they want to step out of comfort zones; not just go to speed dating events or sit across a bar from somebody,” Maxwell explains.

Matthews agrees. She is an “organic dater” she says, pointing out there are fewer opportunities to mislead potential love interests when meeting offline.

“I’ve never met anybody on apps. People are sick and tired of dating that way; it’s super monotonous. And a lot of people have been burned by apps. This is a more organic way to physically see the person you’re interested in — and you get to meet them through the perspective of the people that know them best,” she says.

Those pitching have been supplied with a brief, and consent and boundary guidelines. Maxwell says there is zero tolerance for any type of discrimination including but not limited to racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism and ableism.

“We’re keeping it a really fun, positive environment. We want this to feel like a space where everyone is comfortable shooting their shots. Our biggest rule is: if it would ruin their week, cut the slide out or we will,” Maxwell says.

There are more Date My Mate mixers in the works with plans to widen the age range for singles being pitched.

Maxwell and Knaggs are exploring a number of venues across the city and in different neighbourhoods to make the nights more accessible for those who might not be able to travel.

The next event will be at Little Brown Jug on June 14. It’s aimed at 30- to 45-year-old singles and will start earlier, at 4 p.m. wrapping up at 7 p.m., since it’s a Sunday evening.

“Our biggest rule is: if it would ruin their week, cut the slide out or we will.”

Maxwell laughs as she says the pair have been fielding questions from people curious if they’re expecting to see weddings result from the night.

“We just want people to get to know each other in a way that isn’t on an app and that feels a bit non-traditional,” she says.

“What we’re really hoping is to build a space where people can make genuine human connections while having fun.”

For more information on future Date My Mate events visit instagram.com/wildestdreamsweddingco

winnipegfreepress.com/avkitching