Our Town Series: Speed Date Your Local Leaders - Village Square

Speed Date Your Local Leaders

Let’s do democracy: Let the speed dating begin!

Date and TimeWednesday, April 3, 2024 @ 6:00 pm

LocationGoodwood Carriage House

Maybe you’ve never tried it yourself, but everyone’s heard of speed dating. First offered by an Israeli rabbi to help Jewish singles find love, now there’s Christian speed dating, graduate student speed dating, even speed dating for pet adoption and – for the truly noncommittal – online speed dating.

But have you heard of civic speed dating? At a time when good civic conversations are either hostile or practically non-existent nationally, it’s probably past time for a little local “matchmaking” for the good of our hometown. It’s a format so cool and so unique that we were featured in USA Today when we launched it.

Thanks to our funders Community Foundation of North Florida through a grant from the Knight Foundation for making Speed Date possible.

Single or married, Speed Date Your Local Leaders gives citizens the unusual opportunity to, well, “Speed Date Your Local Leaders” – enjoying yummy food from Jeri’s and chatting informally with the people who lead in our community. (see participating leaders who have already confirmed, below – and check back for new confirmations). Here’s how it works: Leaders will rotate from table to table every 7 minutes, offering each group of participants an opportunity to ask questions or offer ideas that might never have rated a phone call or public testimony, but are the grist of good citizenship and good governance nonetheless.

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