Club Dating

Dating Online

Many online dating sites call themselves dating "clubs." If you've spent much time on the big sites like Match.com, you'll realize that members don't have to have any special qualifications to join.

Special-interest dating clubs let you search among people who already share important interests. Enter your interests into a online search engine, like Google or Yahoo, and it just might lead you to sites like these.

Vegetarian Dates

• Greensingles. Around for more than ten years, this site helps connect people interested in environmentalism, vegetarianism, and other ways of keeping our planet beautiful. The owners give 5% of their profits to earth-friendly, non-profit organizations.
• Veggieromance. This site gives 10% of its profits to VIVA!, a pro-vegetarian animal rights group.
• Veggiedate. Veggiedate is a project of Greenpeople, a directory of eco-friendly and holistic health products.

Biker Dates

• The Biker Dating Network. This site is just for bikers and people who love them. It's part of the larger TangoWire dating service.
• Motorcycle Junction. Motorcycle Junction is based in England, but has members from around the English-speaking world. It also includes a calendar of rallies throughout the United Kingdom.

Geek Dates

• Geek 2 Geek. Do you find yourself more interested in the science museum than the nightclub scene? This friendly site works like a standard dating site, but it's for "geeks" only. Check out their Top 10 reasons why geeks make the best lovers.
• GeekDating at Tribe.net. The GeekDating forum is open to all "geeks" looking for love, dating advice, or local connections.

Local Club Dating

Not everyone enjoys meeting dates online. For people who would rather make connections in person, local interest groups combine fun activities with the chance to meet like-minded souls. Meetup.com has listings for thousands of activity and interest groups in various areas. There are knitting clubs, bible study groups, hiking groups, and hundreds more. It can take a while to settle in to one of these clubs, though, and there's no guarantee you'll meet other singles who are interested in dating.

For dedicated singles club dating, try searching Meetup for "Singles." You're most likely to find singles groups in big cities, but some smaller towns have them, too. Memberships range from a few hopeful souls to several hundred. Some clubs are formed around interests like salsa dancing or certain age groups. Others are open to anyone.

You can also check the web for local groups like these:

• The Madison Area Singles Club in Madison, Wisconsin.
• The Singles Club section of the Sierra Club in Portland, Oregon.

Fetish Clubs

People with more unusual interests also bond together for club dating throughout the United States and beyond. There are clubs for sexual fetishes, group sex, and polyamorous dating.

• The BackDrop Club, based in Northern California, offers support and events for people interested in playing out sexual fetishes and fantasies.
• Club Cave, in Houston, Texas, caters to couples who enjoy bondage play, swinging, and other alternative lifestyle practices.
• LeatherSINS (Social Interaction of the North Shore) is a Chicago-area social club devoted to fetishes like leather, bondage, domination/submission, and sadomasochism.

Advantages of Singles Club Dating

Joining a club devoted to dating can make it much easier to meet people who share your interests. You'll have an automatic conversation-starter. If you participate in online forums or attend events regularly, you'll get to know other members at a deeper level. Even if you don't find your match, you might still make new friends who can enrich your life.

The Problem with Clubs

In any given area, there are a limited number of people who have particular interests and are interested in joining a club. Even in online club dating, you'll begin to see the same faces over and over. Local clubs tend to have core groups of regular members, and sometimes you won't meet anyone new at an event. If your club isn't attracting enough new members, you can get involved in outreach efforts or you may want to look for other more active groups.

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