Miami’s new meet cute: Nonprofit aims to help with city's tough dating scene
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Photo: Jessica Bakeman
Sitting in front of their laptops playing one sound bite after another, the minds behind the inaugural We Met in Miami event bantered about how to make Rihanna's EDM hit "We Found Love" feel like the rhythms of South Florida.
- "We could add a little bachata? A Bad Bunny moment," proposed Laurah Merisier, artistic director of Miami Sound Space. "I like the idea of moments that are invitations for people to dance."
What's happening: We Met in Miami, a new nonprofit aiming to tackle the city's notoriously difficult dating and people-meeting scene, is hard-launching on Valentine's Day.
- Hosted at Gramps in partnership with Miami Sound Space, it's a pop-up choir performance where attendees will learn then perform a rendition of Rihanna's iconic song, mixed by local artist and native Miamian Alex Fever.
Why it matters: The nonprofit's mission is to foster love, friendship and IRL (in real life) connections through community service, civic engagement and the arts throughout the city.
- Founder Jessica Bakeman created We Met in Miami because she wanted to meet people in person instead of online. But more importantly, she's looking for love.
What she's saying: For years, Bakeman, who is also the director of enterprise journalism at WLRN News, heard people complain about Miami's dating scene, despite knowing many couples who've met here.
- "I wanted to create opportunities for in-person connections for myself and other people," she tells Axios. "I got tired of wishing something like this existed."
How it works: We Met in Miami will partner with existing community organizations already working to connect people through shared interests, says Bakeman.
- Some of those groups, like Miami Sound Space, Miamibloco, Raw Figs and Miami Poetry Club, helped inspire the new nonprofit.
- "With We Met in Miami, we're connecting these events and then putting a very intentional focus on love and friendship," Bakeman says.
The details: Once at the event, attendees will choose either a green, blue or rainbow wristband to signal what each person is looking for, an accessory Bakeman hopes will make introducing yourself to someone new a bit easier.
- Green signals love, blue is friendship and rainbow indicates the person is a member of a LBGTQ+ community.
- Attendees can wear one, two or all three wristbands.
If you go: Tickets are available on Eventbrite. The event is free, but donations are welcome.
- To learn about upcoming events, sign up for email updates.