Meet New People by Dining with Eight at Eight
Eight At Eight (8at8.com) prides itself on providing a low-key way for others to meet people so it’s more personal. They arrange dinner parties of four single men and four single women who have similar backgrounds and share common interests.
“We work with a lot of folks who are very busy,” said Sarah Kathryn Smith, founder and president of the organization. “We target the under 40 crowd. We attend every wedding. They are very rewarding to us, very fun.”
Eight at Eight was recently featured on “Oprah” resulting in a lot of response from t.v. viewers. The business has now expanded to seven markets and said they want to continue to provide quality ways for singles to interact.
Smith founded the company back in 1999.
“I’ve always believed there are quality singles at every age of life. I wanted to start something that was truly unique,” she said. “I think the most interesting thing is that a lot of times people come to us and they might meet new friends. Sometimes friends set them up with something. So when you start realizing the potential for networking that exists it just keep compounding on itself. The most interesting thing is we’re considered offline dating. For hundreds of years humans operated with offline dating and then in the late 90s or early 00s internet dating really took off. But then there was a huge swing the other way. In ours, you just show up, smile see who’s there, and move on. We just do these very simple dinner parties.”
Smith encourages participants to come to dinner with an open mind because they might at the very least walk away with a new friend or someone to go shopping with.
“It combines meeting new people with similar hobbies or interests and fine dining,” she said. “Restaurants really like us because we fill their seats. A lot of our people are newcomers, they’re new to a city, and they need to try new restaurants.”
Memberships cost $250 or $450 depending on the city for five dinner parties, not including food. Select special events are also offered. Men and women range from age 21-45 and they are college-educated professionals.
Eight at Eight also takes credit for thousands of first dates, hundreds of serious relationships, dozens of first kisses, and a few legitimate children. Prospective members fill out applications and profiles online, submit a photo, and have an interview by phone.
The company has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, and New York.
For more information, access Eight At Eight at 8at8.com or call 404-888-1118.
