Why More Singles Are Trying Pitch-a-Friend Instead of Dating Apps as Swipe Fatigue Grows
The romance industrial complex of endless swiping has run its course, and singles are looking for something that feels human again. Enter pitch-a-friend, a live event format where a friend takes the mic with a PowerPoint deck and pitches you to a room of strangers looking for love, friendship or just a night out that does not involve their phone.
The concept has already spread to more than 50 cities across 30 states and 10 countries, tapping into a growing hunger for face-to-face connection that dating apps have failed to deliver.
How pitch-a-friend works
A friend prepares a three to five minute PowerPoint presentation making the case for why you are a catch. They deliver it live at a local venue, usually a brewery or bar, in front of an audience of other singles and their pitching pals. After the presentations wrap, attendees mingle with anyone who caught their attention based on what they heard.
The appeal is baked into the format. You arrive with a friend you already trust. You get real background on other people before ever meeting them. And the pressure of crafting an opening line disappears, because someone else has already done the introductions from a stage.
Why singles are ditching dating apps
Dating app fatigue is measurable. A 2024 Ofcom report cited by The Guardian found the number of people using the top 10 most popular dating apps dropped 16% year over year. Research increasingly suggests the apps are engineered to keep users swiping rather than to help them actually find partners.
Luke Brunning, a researcher with the University of Leeds research network on the ethics of online dating, told The Guardian that “There is a growing romanticisation of in-person meeting and interaction. The ‘meet cute’ is becoming a trope in how people on social media talk about romance. Very few of them are turning to the apps as an exclusive means of setting up an in-person meeting. It’s much more fluid now.”
What organizers and attendees are saying
John, an event organizer with Pitch-a-Friend Buffalo, New York, told Audacy in February 2026 that “We’re in that mindset of trying to create connections in person. We’re all done with the dating apps, we’re all done with trying to build chemistry through screens. We want people to be in the room together to meet, to have the opportunity to network, even if it’s not with the sole intention of having a romantic date happen.”
Emily Churchill, who hosts a London-based equivalent called Date a Mate, told The Guardian, “We’ve hit a cultural nerve. Single people are sick of swiping, they want real human connection.”
What actually happens after the pitches
Romance is not the only outcome, and often not the primary one. Attendees swap numbers and Instagram handles, but friendships and unexpected community ties form just as often.
Erica Yim, who attended Pitch and Pair NYC, told Glamour, “After all the presentations were done and the night was kind of over, I definitely talked to some people. I did have a few people ask for my number and Instagram, which is nice. Unexpectedly, I joined a knitting group that one of the presenters mentioned. So now I’m a part of a knitting group, which is great. Just making all of these connections outside of dating is awesome.”
Similar formats have appeared alongside pitch-a-friend. Pitch and Pair in New York bills itself as the place where “PowerPoint meets romance,” according to its website. Joe Teblum, the event’s founder, told Glamour, “It’s a lot harder to find good activities and dates and ways to mingle. A lot of people are trying all the online dating apps, online events, in-person, standard speed dating, and none are really tailored for them.”
How to find or start a pitch-a-friend event
Pitch-a-friend events are currently running across all the cities, states, and countries noted above. If nothing is happening near you, organizers accept city nominations at pitch-a-friend.com/vote, and self-organized versions are welcome. The Buffalo iteration is one example of a community-run event that started because locals wanted the format in their own town.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
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