Hundreds of single Bostonians packed into Cisco Brewers Seaport this past August, trading swipes for face time at a mixer that organizers say pulled in as many as 800 people looking for something dating apps have not been giving them: an actual conversation with an actual stranger. The event paired two of the city's homegrown offline-dating outfits, Stoop Dating and STAG Boston, betting that singles are ready to log off and show up.
Two Boston Dating Concepts Join Forces
Two Boston dating platforms, Stoop Dating and STAG Boston, had teamed up and booked space at the venue, according to The Boston Globe. Stoop Dating was created by Julz Radley, while STAG Boston was created by Krissy Bets, and the two organizers say their recent events combined have attracted up to 800 people seeking an in-person connection. Behind the scenes, the pair sifted through hundreds of applicants to fill the crowd, and both operations bring in revenue through brand deals and sponsorships rather than charging admission alone.
Stoop Dating works less like a typical dating app and more like a matchmaking show: participants sign up for a date, Radley pairs them up, and then she joins them on their first date, which takes place on a South Boston stoop. Radley, who is also the creator and host of the series, told Boston.com that the dates usually last around an hour. She first came up with the stoop concept in December 2024, and the show premiered on March 3, 2025, according to BU News Service, which also reports her team includes Mark Roszkowski handling marketing and analytics, plus matchmakers Devin McCarthy and Mary Rosas.
Yard Games, Questionnaires, and No Apps in Sight
STAG Boston, run by Bets, puts on social events around the city exclusively for singles, and Bets started the project after documenting her own dating experiences in Boston on social media. At a typical STAG event, attendees can expect yard games, conversation starters, and other activities designed to lower the stakes of meeting someone new, the Globe's report notes. Afterward, attendees can fill out a questionnaire indicating who they are interested in getting to know better, a built-in follow-up that trades the ambiguity of a bar encounter for something closer to a soft opt-in system.
Bets told the outlet that people are over the dating apps, and that approaching someone at a bar is difficult because you never know their relationship status or whether they are even interested. The events offer another way for singles to meet in person. Stoop Dating and STAG Boston are now planning to run dating events together going forward, building on the Cisco Brewers turnout.
Real Matches Among the Crowd
The mixer produced at least one notable pairing: Jacob Mulherin, 27, of Marlborough, met Courtney Wilson, 32, of Melrose, at the event. Elsewhere in the crowd, Radley matched Theo Cooper, 26, of Natick, with Courtney Chapman, 35, of Somerville.
Not everyone at the mixer left with a match. Other attendees at the mixer included Danielle Duffett, 30, of Natick, James Shiang, 23, of Boston, and Andrew Winitzer, 35.
Part of a Bigger Offline Dating Shift
The Cisco Brewers turnout fits into a broader national pattern. Eventbrite recorded more than 1.5 million searches for dating and singles events between May 2023 and April 2024, and attendance at such events on the platform jumped 42% from 2022 to 2023, according to Axios. Eventbrite has attributed the shift to swiping fatigue pushing Gen Z and Millennials toward more authentic settings like social clubs and hobby groups, with in-person dating events increasingly moving beyond speed dating into game nights and athletic gatherings.
Safety concerns also factor in: Axios reports that 41% of surveyed Gen Z daters name safety as a top concern when meeting people from apps. Still, apps remain deeply embedded in American dating life — Pew Research Center found three in ten U.S. adults have used a dating site or app, a share unchanged since 2019, with 53% of adults ages 18 to 29 reporting they have done so. Tinder remains the most commonly used platform nationally, ahead of Match and Bumble, per the same research, and only 10% of partnered adults say they first met their current spouse or partner through a dating site or app.
Stoop Dating's Boston Company
Boston's offline-dating scene extends beyond Stoop Dating and STAG. The Southie Bachelor, an application-only event hosted by Krissy Bets, has drawn similarly outsized interest — its most recent installment received 800 applications for just 44 spots and produced more than 90 matches, per Boston.com.
Stoop Dating has already produced at least one lasting pairing beyond the mixer crowd. Meredith Lindsey and Jacob Kester, both 24, met on the show in mid-October, with their episode posted on the 20th, and the pair said their relationship had lasted more than a month as of that report from BU News Service. Whether any of the Cisco Brewers matches follow a similar path remains to be seen, but for organizers betting on stoops, yard games, and questionnaires over algorithms, the packed turnout suggests plenty of Boston singles are at least willing to show up and find out.
