By Shauna Scott Rhone
The Cincinnati Enquirer

So what is speed dating? Think musical chairs without the music. Think the bonus round of Win Ben Stein's Money without the dollar shower at the end. Think Pardon the Interruption without the sarcasm. Think Jennifer Lopez's pace of going through partners without the churches and divorce court.

It's a fast-paced, three-to-eight minute "dating do-si-do" of love hits and misses. The theory is that romantic first impressions are usually cemented, for better or worse, within the first four minutes. Depending on who you're sitting across from, three minutes can seem way too long and seven minutes fly by at the speed of life.

Your love life, separated by whistle blasts.

Speed dating was created in 1999 by a Los Angeles rabbi to encourage Jewish singles to marry within their faith. A secular explosion in rapid-fire dating followed, including an entire Web site (speeddatingsites.com) dedicated to helping singles locate speed dating events in almost any city in the country. The Web site also lists events in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

While Progressive Daters (www.progressivedaters.com) is the only speed dating service operating in the Tristate, new companies like Dayton-based Accel-a-Date (www.accel-a-date.com) pop up almost daily.

That's speed dating, a festive room filled with single men and women interested in "the start of a beautiful friendship."

Shauna Scott Rhone