Nerd dating service

There are dating services for specific ethnic and religious groups all over the Internet, so why not a dating service for nerds? Chicago based Nerds at Heart aims to appeal this demographic by offering the technically adept and Star Wars friendly to socialize over board games and drinks. The Chicago Sun Times reports that — narrowing down prospects according to religion, say, or ethnicity — is on the rise.  Online traffic has increased for the top five niche dating categories, while general matchmaking sites stayed about the same. The biggest gains were in the gay dating and religious dating categories.

Nerds have steadily gained cache in these economic times. While layoffs have mounted in jobs in manufacturing and the financial sectors, many technology fields such as medical technology and gaming have remained bright spots in the economy. Further, having a potential mate who understands them and share interests is a powerful draw for even socially introverted nerds.

A couple of the pictures taken from the Nerds At Heart website. The "nerds" look pretty normal to me, not a pocket protector in sight.

“It’s very tongue-in-cheek, but also sweet,” said co-founder Bathsheba Birman. “The people are better looking than you’d expect. There’s no litmus test, you don’t have to show how smart you are.” Good news if you’re in the market for someone who’s comfortable reciting Star Trek trivia and can write a mean C program.

There’s been some successful pairings already:

At a Nerds at Heart gathering at Guthrie’s a year and a half ago, Carrie Dahlby and Josh Rasey were seated at the same board game twice. “I found myself staring at Josh much of the night, actually because his smile reminded me so much of Gilbert Gottfried,” says Dahlby, 30.

Later they connected through e-mail — but suddenly, Dahlby stopped getting messages from him. For 2½ weeks. The problem? Josh’s e-mails were being diverted because of Carrie’s overzealous spam filter.

“The irony of a computer problem interfering with my social life was not lost on me,” says Josh, 35.

Now the two live together in Andersonville, with a cat named after Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dahlby has been known to dress up as Princess Leia on occasion. At least five science fiction conventions are on their calendar this year — as well as a wedding. They’ll be married May 30. The song “Nerds in Love” by Lemon Demon will be on the playlist.

“She is the best thing to ever happen to me,” says Josh.

Aw that’s really kind of sweet.

If you are in the Chicago area and wish to participate, register at the Nerds at Heart website. Registration is $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

Partly sourced from the Chicago Sun Times

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