In a "Date My Mate' event, a friend will make a make PowerPoint pitch about why others should date you.

Such events can show that you are real and that you have at least one friend willing to vouch for you.

This may be a good alternative if you do not like to promote yourself, which is often favored on dating apps.

This is an example of "friendfluence," where your friends can greatly influence your dating success.

You may have heard of the term "sliding into someone's DMs." Well, this is another way to slide into dating—having a friend present a set of PowerPoint slides pitching to dating prospects the many reasons why they should date you.

Yep, this is the basis of dating events such as the "Date My Mate" ones that have been popping up in London, England, pubs. In this case "mate" refers to a friend rather than a significant other. A "Date My Significant Other" presentation might get a significantly different reaction, especially from the significant other.

These events consist of people taking turns getting up and making PowerPoint presentations to pitch their single friends to others. During and after each presentation, there may be comments, questions, and laughter from the crowd. And hopefully for the single person who's being presented, the laughter is with what's being presented and not at it.

The point of these PowerPoint events is to provide a new dating approach—an alternative to what's been out there. There has, for example, been increasing backlash to dating apps, as I have noted before in "A Funny Bone to Pick." With dating........

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