SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan welcomes the new spin on traditional matchmaking. She said there is a stigma attached to matchmaking, which hampers singles from attending such events. However, these novel events take the emphasis away from the matchmaking aspect and put it on the fun aspect instead. "Given the myriad interests of singles, it is encouraging that the variety of dating events is growing," said Prof Straughan.