Singles will try to find love via PowerPoint presentations during Denver's premiere Pitch-a-Friend event at Vesper Lounge on December 11. Friends will present slideshows on behalf of the singles, aiming to sell them as prospective romantic partners to a room full of strangers during a five-minute pitch. After the pitches, a mingle session will give audience members the chance to chat up their favorite bachelor/bachelorette.
"It's like Shark Tank, but for love and friendship," the Pitch-a-Friend promo explains.
Pitch-a-Friend has brought its unique dating experiment to more than three dozen cities since it started in 2022, including spots in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Canada. This is the first event scheduled to take place in Colorado, but organizers say more will come between New Year's and Valentine's Day.
Denver daters could certainly use the help.
"When we first opened up for new city locations this summer outside of our original Philadelphia chapter, we received requests from over 250 cities across 27 countries," says Melissa Schipke, co-founder of Pitch-a-Friend. "Denver stood out as one of the more requested cities through our online vote form and chapter interest, making it a clear priority."
Between seven and twelve singles are presented at each event, which is open to adults 21 and up. There's currently a waitlist to pitch in Denver, with a total of twenty people signing up; singles aren't allowed to pitch themselves, but a pair of friends can sign up to pitch one another. It costs the friend $5 to present a PowerPoint, but that includes a free drink.@pitchafriend ♬ original sound - Pitch-A-Friend
"We love creative and engaging events like these that foster community," says Hannah Curran, events and marketing manager for Bonanno Concepts, which owns Vesper Lounge. "Jacqueline Bonanno discovered Pitch-a-Friend and reached out to see if they’d be interested in partnering with us. ... This one caught our attention as something special we knew locals would enjoy."
It's not an entirely novel idea. In 2019, similar PowerPoint-based dating programs began popping up throughout the country, from Washington D.C. to Boston to San Francisco.
The dating scene in Colorado, and Denver in particular, has developed a reputation as a "dumpster fire"; local women say the city is inundated with "the Peter Pan guy" who wants casual fun but not a relationship, while men complain of women who are overly reliant on surface-level traits like income and looks.
Westword has documented this turmoil in its "Dateless in Denver" essay series, featuring reader horror stories ranging from a date getting into a screaming match with an elderly park ranger to another being confronted by a private investigator for sexually assaulting multiple women.
Compared to those escapades, PowerPoint looks pretty good.
Pitch-a-Friend, 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 11, Vesper Lounge, 233 East Seventh Avenue; admission is free. Learn more here.
