A 'history nerd' who set up a dating app to help her daughter find a husband has launched a new site - for geeks. Dennie Smith, 62, was on a "geeky" World War history trip in France when the idea came to her.
She previously set up a dating site to help her daughter, Laurel, 34, find love - to no avail. Dennie launched her new app, Geek Meet Club, in November 2022 and said it is a “safe fun platform where you can flaunt your geekiness without being judged”. The app has around 2,500 certified nerdy members and is strictly for geeks.
Dennie, a hair salon owner, said: "I went on a tour with a group and a guide to France where we walked in all the tunnels of the trenches. It was a group of 13 of us, 10 men and two women and everyone was getting on so well that I just thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice to do a geek one?’”
"I am a passionate geek. The members we have told me they wouldn’t feel comfortable writing their passions on mainstream sights."
Dennie had previously been trying to get her daughter hitched when she came up with her first dating app - Traditional Dating Club - in 2018.
She said: "Laurel wanted a gentleman, a man who wouldn't find it weird opening the car door for her or paying for a meal. That was the thing that started off the first app, though sadly it didn't work for Laurel!"
Her new app allows users to opt for dates, to network, or to make friendships based off their geeky tendencies - whether that’s Lord of the Rings, Warhammer or any other interest deemed to be uncool. Dennie has relied largely on voluntary help from web developers to get her app up and running and she personally vets every single profile to ensure that people aren’t putting inappropriate things on them.
She said: “I’m up at 6am every day. It’s hard work, but I think my hard work is paying off."
Dennie, who has run her hair salon in South Croydon, London, for 30 years, spends her free time touring wartime battle fields in Europe. She has been what was the Western Front during World War One to walk in the trenches and has visited some of the beaches in Normandy where the D-Day landings took place during World War Two.
Her husband, Graham, 61, a school caretaker, has no such inclination, so the trips are normally solo.
She said: “I go off on history trips on my own. I collect World War memorabilia. I’ve toured abandoned underground tunnels in London.
“I’ve got a weird collection of items - from an air raid siren to medals, to my grandad's dog tag and even a suffragette flag. I am a passionate geek.”
Dennie said many geeks have difficulty coming out of their shell, especially when it comes to dating. She has a real-life confidence coach working for her, who people can talk to in the app. The app is free to join, but costs £4.99 per month for extra features.
Dennie said: “I don’t like lonely people, it makes me sad. I’m a bit of a softy. When I log on and see the activity, it really warms my heart."
Dennie says lots of people are bored with the content most people see on conventional dating apps.
She said: “All of them normally say ‘I like socialising, going to the gym and travel’. These are really generic answers and often don’t really tell people about specific interests. Not one person has written 'gym' yet.”
But she says this app will likely not be used by her daughter, who works as a personal assistant, as she is “not a geek”. “She’s still looking for her husband,” Dennie said.
This week Dennie launched a competition to find the ‘UKs biggest geek’, with the winner getting a £500 cash prize. Earlier in the year Dennie was forced to reduce the opening hours of her salon - Vintage 62 - to four days a week, owing to the cost of living crisis.
“May was not a good month for us, but opening on four days has been better, as we are busier on those four days," she said.
Dennie says even if the app doesn’t make much money, she’s "not bothered", adding: “Making people happy is enough for me."
