Computer Dance

Founded	1966 (1966)
Founder	David Dewan
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts
Area served	United States high schools
Services	Computer dating for dances

Computer Dance was a computer dating service for high school dances. The company was founded in 1966 by MIT student David Dewan as an extension of his college-oriented Contact computer dating service.

Dances were scheduled and managed entirely by high school student governments. Students bought tickets in advance and answered 50 questions about themselves and their ideal dates. Two weeks before the dance, the student government mailed all the answers to the Boston-based company for processing.

At the dance, everyone received the numbers (not the names) of their best matches and searched the crowd to find them. All matching was two-way so "While you’re looking for them, they all have your number and are all looking for you!”.^[1]

Computer Dance operated entirely by mail, which dictated the timeline.

Five weeks before the dance, the high school student government ordered materials (questionnaires, answer cards, and pre-printed tickets) from the Boston-based company. Every student planning to attend bought a ticket and filled out an answer card with their responses to 50 questions about themselves and their ideal dates.

Two weeks before the dance, the student government mailed all the answer cards and a check for the processing fee (50 cents per person) back to Boston. The company tested every possible boy-girl combination^[2] and airmailed the results back to the school in time for the dance.

The Computer Dance questionnaire was a four-page booklet with 50 questions covering height, age, looks, sports, movies, music, personality, and more. The instructions noted, "The computer will test every possible boy-girl combination at your school and will automatically select the two or more people who best fit your answers!"

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Computer Dance answer cards were printed on actual IBM cards to underscore the computer theme. Each answer card had a unique Computer Number identical to the one on the student's ticket. (Dance Committee members filled in these numbers in advance.)

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  Computer Dance answer card

Computer Dance tickets were also IBM cards and were printed and punched with the dance location, date, time, and price. Each person's ticket and answer card had the same Computer Number. The ticket suggested "YOU MAY FOLD THIS TICKET", contrary to the normal admonition of that era: "Do not fold, spindle or mutilate".

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  Computer Dance ticket

At the dance, each student received two cards: one with their Computer Number in large print which they could wear for easy identification and one with the numbers of their ideal dates. All matches were two-way and the card emphasized "While you’re looking for them, they all have your number and are all looking for you!"

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  Computer Dance results

Computer Dance mailed a 9x12 envelope of materials addressed to "The President of the Student Government, C/O The Administration" to all 25,000 US high schools.^[3] Each package contained a two-page letter to the president of the student government, a sample questionnaire, sample Answer Card, sample Ticket, a one-page letter to the school administration, an order form, and a list of schools that had already held Computer Dances.

This letter introduced Computer Dance and offered "...the most unusual theme ever for your next school dance; one that will be remembered and talked about for months!"

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The mailing package included a letter to the school administration which explained the safety of Computer Dance, pointing out that the questionnaire "avoids controversial areas" and "No students' names are used: COMPUTER DANCE always uses numbers instead of names. This adds to the fun at the Dance and completely protects your students."

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A list of the 307 schools that held Computer Dances in Spring 1966 was included in the Fall 1966 mailing as both validation of the idea and a list of references. The letter to the administration suggested "A call to one of them could help answer any questions you might have."

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Schools used the order form to request questionnaire sets (including answer cards and printed tickets), specify the location, date, time, and price for their dance, and list their shipping address.

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  Order form
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  Business reply envelope

Computer Dance incorporated several design choices that distinguished it from the college-oriented Contact computer dating service and addressed the concerns of school administrators.

Students were identified only by their computer number throughout the process. No names appeared on any materials. The company emphasized that this added to the fun and protected students’ privacy.^[4]

The questionnaire covered personality traits, sports, school activities, personal appearance, and extracurricular interests but deliberately avoided the more controversial questions about drinking, smoking, sexual attitudes, and political opinions that appeared in the Conatct questionnaire for college students.^[4]

The program was designed so that the student government handled all logistics: ordering, ticket sales, collecting answer cards, mailing them to Boston, and distributing results at the dance.^[2][4] This gave schools full control and provided a fundraising opportunity; the student government typically marked up the ticket price.^[5]

Schools did not need exactly equal numbers of boys and girls and the company charged the processing fee only for answer cards actually completed.^[6] Small schools could combine with a neighbor for a Two-School Computer Dance.^[7]

In September 1966, the company mailed promotional materials to all 25,000 U.S. high schools^[2] and included a list of 307 schools that had held Computer Dances in Spring 1966.^[8][9]

By December 1966, Seventeen magazine reported that more than 800 schools were holding computer dances that year.^[10]

Beginning in 1967, the company expanded its mailing to include 15,000 U.S. junior high schools, reaching a total of 40,000 junior and senior high schools.^[11]

As of 1969, Dewan estimated that more than 400,000 students had attended Computer Dances over the service's three-year run, with dances held across the United States and in Canada, Puerto Rico, England, and West Germany.^[12][13]

As college computer dating became a media sensation^{[14] [15] [16]} in 1965–1966, Computer Dance attracted coverage by bringing the same idea to high school dances.

Gene Shalit, in a feature story in Seventeen magazine in December 1966,^[17] described the scene at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, New York, where "855 twisters crushed into the gym for the biggest dance in the school's history." Computer Dance had spread, he wrote, "from California to the Carolinas" and "shrinking violets turn into Venus flytraps." Not everything went perfectly, however: "Eeeeeek! I got my brother."

The Boston Globe covered Computer Dance at Needham High School in April 1966 and noted "...510 students—a record attendance..."^[18]

MIT Technology Review in February 1967 observed that everyone at a Computer Dance "must then search for the owners of his numbers—and this search serves as an excellent icebreaker."^[19]

The Christian Science Monitor reported in March 1967 "Response was so enthusiastic that the program was extended to junior high schools."^[11]

This Week magazine described Computer Dance as a "particular favorite with the high-school crowd".^[20]

Other newspaper coverage included "Computer Plays Matchmaker",^[21] "Cupid by Computer",^[22] "Tycoon, 25, Computes Dates, Schools",^[23] and "Dating Service Just 1st Step".^[24]

• Contact (computer dating)
• Search (college selection by computer)