A friend of mine (let’s call her Marci) recently started online dating again. Most of her dates were normal but there was no real chemistry or connection, so she cut her losses and moved on. Then Powerpoint guy appeared. It seemed like one more ordinary online dating story at first. But it was about to get a lot stranger. They’d been out on about 4 dates, and nothing was happening.

Just lots of talking, and no kissing. She figured he wasn’t interested. Anyway, Marci decided to break it off. Next thing she knows, her inbox shows a new message from the guy with an attached Powerpoint presentation. It was the kind of thing you almost have to see to believe. And yet somehow it still managed to be both serious and ridiculous. I’ll preface this with some background info on Powerpoint guy: he is in his mid-thirties, an ad sales exec, and is not used to taking no for anaswer.

The attached Powerpoint was entitled “The Case for Continued Dating” and revealed charts, graphs, and numerous bullet points about why she should continue dating him. A bit creepy. But at the same time, I kind of admire the time and effort he put in to woo her via something as bland as a Powerpoint presentation. He clearly thought data could do the job where charm had not. That kind of confidence is hard to ignore.

Some of these included: an 86% compatibility rating, a projected breakdown of future dates, and a comparison to other online daters. Oh, and considering the spray-tanned profile picture of some of his competition, he was looking pretty good. So, possibly gay, but interesting and I think he’s worth another shot. Anybody else tried this tactic? Did you get results? It is weird enough to be memorable, which may count for something. Sometimes the strangest move is also the one that gets attention.