It was a busy night on the town. I'd met four men in less than half an hour at the bar. Michael was a computer programmer who enjoyed the odd salsa class, John was an administrative assistant with dreams of becoming a truckie, Luke worked for Qantas and had crooked teeth and Damien was still hung over from the night before, when he got blind drunk at his tenth school reunion. But the night was still young and there was a glimmer of hope in the air — I still had eight more men to meet. I was wearing a slinky black top and I was ready to go.

Welcome to the world of speed-dating

When Romeo met Juliet, he had to work hard for his woman. He defied a long-running family feud, climbed balconies, was exiled to Mantua and finally, poisoned himself. In this day and age, it's still not easy to find true love, whether you find it on a reality TV show or in a dodgy dimly-lit doof-doof-doof club.

Clint Paddison, CEO and owner of Blink Dating service, believes that the answer lies in speed-dating. In one night, 12 girls and 12 guys go through a whirlwind of 12 dates, each lasting seven minutes. Paddison himself met a girlfriend through speed-dating. "There was instant chemistry," he says. "It didn't take five minutes — I wanted her within two seconds."

He believes that unlike traditional methods of hunting for a partner, the speed-dating environment is more fun, open and friendly.

"There's no pretentiousness when you go. Everyone has made a public commitment to those people at the event that they are single, so there are no games to play," he explains. "You're there because you've made a decision to say, 'I'm single and I'm doing something about it', so the conversation at an event tends to be of a very low bullsh*t [nature]."

Blink is one of a number of speed-dating services in Sydney, including Fast Impressions, Little Black Book and Fast Date. According to Fast Impressions, the trend was designed by a Los Angeles rabbi in 1998 as a way for young Jewish singles to meet. Blink boasts three documented marriages and an 87 per cent chance of finding at least one person you'd like to meet again. Blink also rewards couples that have made it to the three-month mark by offering the happy pair a night at a five-star hotel.

Danielle, a 29-year old nurse, has enjoyed a number of dates after using Blink's services, although none have resulted in a long-term relationship. She rates fun and loyalty as two of her biggest turn-ons and bad breath as the number one turn-off. "I once offered someone chewing gum," she says of a man she met at a speed-dating event.

"It's difficult to find somebody that you click with nowadays," says Danielle. "Women don't really know what they want. You've got so many choices that sometimes it's hard to know what is the right choice for you. I'm really enjoying dating, going out with different people and just having fun."

Whether you're in a crowded bar, a supermarket aisle or a speed-dating event, the crucial opening line can make or break any future romantic prospects. One girl at an event used the oh-so-classy line: "What type of toilet paper do you use?".

Richard, a 40-year old personal trainer and Taurean, relies on astrology to determine the strength and validity of a relationship and always asks his dates their star signs. He prefers fiery, strong personalities — Arian and Scorpion women are his favourites. "You never just ask where they work," he advises.

Richard has used Blink's services a dozen times and has accumulated five lady friends, but he's still on the lookout for Miss Right. A hopeless romantic, he says that if he had someone to spend Valentine's Day with, he'd take her out to a concert, a dinner for two, followed by a stroll on the beach.

Exactly 74 minutes later, I met eight more men. Ian reminded me of George Costanza in both personality and physical appearance. I can't even remember the conversation I had with Mr Number Six, Mr Numbers Seven, Eight and Nine were all computer programmers. Anand had just arrived from Bombay and while he said very little, he had a lovely toothy smile. Tony was a broad-shouldered engineer with bright red hair who woke up at 5am to go swimming in the morning. And Andrew just gave me the creeps with his lascivious smirking and eyebrow wiggling.

While true love was nowhere in sight, when the event came to a close, a group of us hung back, taking great swigs of red wine, obviously relieved that it was over. It was like we'd all come back from war. Maybe this Juliet didn't find her Romeo that night, but she lives in hope of finding him in the next seven minutes. Maybe he's still trying to scramble over the balcony.