As with most dating trends (e.g. run clubs, marriage contracts, new dating apps), I first learned about the concept of pitching a single friend through a PowerPoint presentation from TikTok. It was a video with the subtitle “It’s 2025 & this is how we date” that caught my eye, with comments ranging from excited (“Please this would be so much fun”) to cringe (“I would melt into my seat, no thank you”).
Immediately, I was intrigued. As a 24-year-old who has been on and off dating apps for the last five years and still single, I’ve concluded that I’m not going to find my partner online. Frankly, I’m exhausted. The tireless swiping, conversations that go nowhere, and repetitively deleting Hinge only to download it again a few months later—it’s a cycle that’s forced me to consider the question: Is friendship-fueled matchmaking the next era of dating? And do these PowerPoint presentations actually work?
The TikTok I saw was specifically for event-planning site Pitch and Pair, which, according to its website, is “where PowerPoint meets romance.” While their events are currently held in NYC, I discovered there are similar concepts, like Pitch-a-Friend, happening across the country.
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“It’s a lot harder to find good activities and dates and ways to mingle,” says Joe Teblum, Pitch and Pair’s founder. “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.”
It was enough of a recurring issue for Teblum and his friends, who work full-time in tech, that he was inspired to do something about it. “My friends deserve to get a match and find somebody, but they’re just not putting themselves out there,” he explains. “So I created Pitch and Pair to find a unique, fun way that would allow people to more organically meet people and have that kind of meet-cute moment.”
To blend the ease of digital apps and the energy of an in-person gathering, each “pitcher” creates a three-to-five-minute slideshow to sell their single friend to a room full of strangers. As Teblum tells Glamour, “When people come in, they’re going to be coming in with groups of friends, usually all very excited.”
Like a true journalist, I went to a Pitch and Pair event on June 11 to see it in action for myself. I arrived a few minutes after the doors opened, and the room was already close to capacity. By the time it started, there were no more chairs available and people were standing along the wall at the back of the room. I was curious—who would be brave enough to stand up in a room full of strangers and be a part of this?
I found out soon enough. Introducing close friends Sarah Gross and Erica Yim. Yim is recently single, while Gross is trying to break into the stand-up comedy scene; the two decided that Pitch and Pair would be the perfect activity for both their interests.
Though Gross, 28, is also single, she took on the role as the pitcher for this event. She thought this could be a way for her and Yim to “get back out there in a way that’s fun and not intimidating, and we can go do it together.” If it didn’t work out, that was fine with Gross: “It’s still a funny way to spend an evening.”
Yim, also 28, had a “what happens happens” approach to the night. Although, as the person being pitched, she says she felt a lot of emotions beforehand. As she told me, “I was certainly nervous the day before and the day of. You are really putting yourself out there, and that can be scary.”
As for Gross’s presentation, well, she definitely has a promising career in stand-up comedy. Yim didn’t appear nervous at all, either! I asked Yim if anyone approached her afterwards; she said yes, but there were no plans to go on a date with anyone she met. She did join a knitting group, though.
“After all the presentations were done and the night was kind of over, I definitely talked to some people,” she says. “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.”
When I asked Gross if she would ever have somebody pitch her, she said, “I’m actually newly single. At the time I booked the event, I was not, so I was just coming at it from, I like to talk, I like to goof around, this will be fun. And then I got there, and I was like, These people are great. Maybe when I’m getting back out here more, it could be fun to reenter in a kind of silly way like Erica did.”
For Gross and Yim, Pitch and Pair presented a unique solution to an old problem: Where do I go to make new connections that feel genuine and sustainable? Meeting romantic partners in person isn’t a new concept—it’s literally the oldest method of dating, aside from matchmaking—but it is novel to younger generations who experienced COVID-19 during their most formative years. According to an Edelman report, “58% [of Gen-Z and young millennials are] reporting loneliness due to COVID-19” and are eager for community and connection. With this in mind, it makes sense that young people are turning away from online dating and toward more in-person events.
As Yim told Glamour, “Online dating takes a lot of work, and I have so many other things going on in my life that I don’t know if I’m ready to have time.” According to a 2024 Forbes survey, respondents spend an average of 51 minutes each day on dating apps, with women spending more time (52 minutes) than men (49 minutes). “It’s a lot of mental and emotional energy to be having all of these conversations with people that you’ve never met before and also have no idea if you’re going to click with them,” says Yim.
Yim isn’t the only person who feels this way. Britney Burns, founder of Brunchin’ in BK, has seen this burnout in her community. “We’re tired of being on the apps,” Burns tells Glamour. “People often realize that they might be even dating the same people because it’s the same people over and over again on the apps.”
Trying to foster community amongst her friends, Burns created Brunchin' in BK in 2024. In the beginning, Burns said, “I would just host brunches on the weekend. I was making reservations for 50 people, and I was like, Maybe I should take this a little seriously.”
Now the group, which is based in New York (especially Brooklyn), hosts networking panels, mixers, and speed-dating experiences. “I feel like my bread and butter is smaller, intimate curated events where people are actually meeting people and finding community.”
And it’s working. For one of their singles mixers last month, they received more than 700 applications to attend. Burns’s business partner and founder of HRLM Champagne, DarDra Coaxum, said, “We’re eliminating the work for you. We have questions set, and it’s fun questions. One of them was, ‘What is a trait of yours that your ex would say is a good quality?’”
Burns and Coaxum have found that people are more likely to engage with the dating process if they know what to expect, and if they know their friends will join them. Burns said, “We’re going to reach out to a lot of different social clubs and fraternities. That’s where the men are at. They’re at sports. They’re at cigar lounges.”
Groups like Thursday, another IRL singles movement, are also trying to change the dating scene by facilitating events in person. From wine tastings to more adventurous activities, the events are diverse and broad enough for everyone to feel welcomed (and hopefully find a like-minded partner).
Is friendship-led matchmaking a new dating trend? No, but it’s definitely back. Through community-centered groups like Pitch and Pair and Brunchin’ in BK, Gen Z and young millennials can start to foster community in person in a way that feels authentic and exciting.
As Yim said, “At the end of the day, if this goes badly, I’m in the exact same spot as where I started, so what the hell. Might as well just try it.” We should all think a little more like Yim and keep reaching outside of our comfort zone.