‘Speed friending’ — a new way to connect with others in Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo. — You may have heard the term "speed dating," but if you're trying to make a new friend or two in a hurry, you can try "speed friending."

A team of local therapists came up with the idea as a way to quickly break the ice with others and connect with new people in just a matter of minutes.

Friday night’s event (1/3) was held at Chaos Brewing Company in downtown Joplin.

More than a dozen people were paired in groups of two. Each person would quickly introduce themselves, and then have just five minutes to get to know one another.

To help keep the conversation going, each person could pick from a bowl of questions. Once the time was up, it was on to the next person.

"I can judge in three to five minutes whether I'd want to have another conversation with you, but if I did it online we could chit-chat for two weeks and then I meet you in person and I'm like, 'woah, they're a little much for me,' so it's like we kind of cut the chase from the get-go and get to see what's this about, and it's an experience,” said Kris Lowry, a licensed clinical social worker.

"It can be really hard when you become an adult to make friends. It's a lot easier when you're younger, like in high school or in college and you're seeing people every day and you have shared interests, but as you become an adult it can become really hard to put yourself out there and make friends, so this kind of gives people a space, an opportunity to do that,” said Cydney McKinnie, a licensed professional counselor.

Organizers say this is meant to provide a safe atmosphere for people to have short, topical conversations in order to find others in which to connect.