Trying to move from online to IRL singles group

[MartyInLA]

This is kind of a long story, but there's a reason... please bear with me.

This spring, I finally gave up on speed dating and online dating because I realized they're just games. They've become like CB radio... full of people who just want to joke around, and the only ones who really benefit from it are the people who provide it to the public. It would have been a great system if only the people using it had been honest and the operators weren't just in it to make money.

So... I really had no alternatives, because I'm not into the bar or church scenes, and Los Angeles is just not a "meet people" kind of town. But I also know that a lot of other people have gotten tired of online dating, and I saw with my own eyes that speed dating parties have gotten 40% fewer people than just 3 years ago. I heard about one offline singles group in another large city which formed in reaction to the online dating mess, and those people seem to be having a ball. My next step was to start my own local singles group, patterned after theirs, with the whole idea being that anyone who was serious enough to want to be part of it, would have to show up in person to a group meeting first. Put out ads, get a bunch of people, and presto... we all turn out, maybe a few fall in love and get married. Success.

If only it was that simple.
So far, I've put thousands of ads out in different parts of town, and only 3 people actually showed up for group meetings. I'm baffled by this... we singles complain that it's so hard to meet other singles, and all the good "out" places in Los Angeles closed years ago. What's wrong with this picture? Are singles just thinking "oh, it looks like just another scam", or are they thinking "that sounds likea great idea---as long as someone else has to make the effort"? Or are they thinking "hmm, it doesn't look like there's a way to play this game"?

I don't know... maybe I'm just not reaching the right demographic, or maybe there's some rule that I don't know about; but I thought it would be just the thing to start a local, offline singles group, because I don't enjoy being lonely and I thought a lot of other single people don't enjoy it either. It just seems so hypocritical, for people to say they want to meet someone, then when someone offers them the opportunity, they purposely avoid it.

Someone needs to tell me what it is that I just don't get... I have no interest in game-playing, just meeting the right person to spend my golden years with.

[Lipp]

Have you tried getting in touch with the founder of the offline dating that was successful in the other city? Bet he/she could have some good tips on how to kick-start it.

[MartyInLA]

I tried, but they never returned my e-mails (even though I said nice things about them).