How to run a singles night in your bar: the Klarrro Pro guide

Who this guide is for

You run a bar, manage its floor, or organize events in a partner venue. By the end of this guide, you will know how to choose a format, set a capacity, prepare your team, frame safety and track what the night delivered.

Klarrro appears here as one option among others, where the tool changes how things are done. Do you organize events without a venue of your own? The steps in this guide apply to you too, with the venue that hosts you.

Want to see the tool on a typical event first? Book a demo See how Klarrro works

Why run a singles night in a bar

A singles night gives people a reason to go out on an evening nobody had planned. It serves three goals:

• Fill a quiet evening. The Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday when the room empties, not the Saturday that is already full.
• Create a regular meeting point. The same day every week or every month: your customers know when to come back.
• Start conversations. When two people meet at your place, your bar becomes their place.

Other ways to liven up the week are covered in our guide Filling your bar on weeknights.

Choosing your format

Six formats come up again and again in bars. They differ in equipment, whether they need a host, how comfortable they are for shy guests, safety, and what you can measure.

Colored wristbands

The wristband color signals availability, following a code displayed at the entrance: for example green for “available”, orange for “maybe”, red for “not interested”. The principle is simple, but the wristband only signals availability without helping start a conversation.

Numbered cups or stickers

Each participant wears a number and messages travel on paper. Shy guests benefit, but the logistics are on you and nobody filters inappropriate messages.

Bolts and nuts

Some guests get a screw, others a bolt, and everyone looks for the matching piece. The game gives a reason to approach someone, but it assumes woman-man pairs and leaves out part of your audience.

Speed dating

Participants sit face to face and change partner at fixed intervals. The setting is clear, but it ties up tables, requires a host and a balanced number of sign-ups, and puts shy guests under pressure.

Pitch dating

Friends introduce a single person at the microphone. The format creates atmosphere, but it exposes the person being introduced and depends on a host who is comfortable on stage.

Numbered badge app

This is the Klarrro format. Participants join the event by scanning its QR code or entering its code (format ABC-123); the app opens in the phone’s browser. Everyone receives a badge number assigned in order, then writes to the numbers they spot in the room, with no name displayed. The interface is available in French, English and Spanish.

When two badges have written to each other, it is a match, celebrated anonymously on the room’s screen, the VideoWall Love. A match reveals no contact details: they are exchanged only if both people decide to. No tables, no timer, no rounds: everyone writes whenever they want, without leaving the bar’s atmosphere. The limit: you need a smartphone, hence the Tableau du Love, presented below.

The article Speed dating or badge night: which format to choose compares the two in detail.

Want to see the numbered badge format applied to your room? Book a demo See pricing

Choosing the day, time and frequency

• The day. A weeknight when your room has space: spot it in your till records, then check the local calendar (televised matches, school holidays, neighborhood events).
• The time. Set a start time and an end time, and stick to them. Place the start at the moment when the room will be full: in Klarrro, it is also the time when conversations open.
• The frequency. A fixed slot catches on faster than a one-off date: every week, or the same day every month.

In Klarrro, a recurring series is created in one go: every week or every 2 to 8 weeks, or the same day of the week each month (for example the first or last Wednesday). All its dates are deducted from your event quota as soon as it is created: choose your plan according to your rhythm, on the Pricing page.

Setting the capacity

Two figures matter. Venue capacity is the maximum number of people allowed in your establishment: it overrides everything else. Event capacity is the number of participants you accept: keep room for your regulars and for moving between the bar and the tables.

A full event is better than a half-empty room: a packed night makes people want to come back for the next one.

In Klarrro, you set this capacity when you create the event. Numbers are assigned in order, from 1 up to the capacity, and sign-up is refused once the event is full.

Guests without a smartphone

The Tableau du Love lets you include guests who have no smartphone, or whose battery has died. It is switched on in the event settings. Your team creates an app-free badge for them (analog badge): the next number is assigned to them and counts toward the capacity. Messages meant for them are written on sticky notes, gathered on a board placed in the room. Your team records each sticky note in the dashboard: the recipient badge is called out on the room screen and notified in the app if they use it.

Preparing your team

Four roles run the event. In a small venue, one person can hold several, except the safety lead, who must remain available.

• Welcome: shows the QR code, explains the principle in one sentence, hands out the physical badges, helps those who get stuck at sign-up.
• Running the event: moves the program along, watches the screen, starts the phone-free break (Phone Free) and, depending on your plan, the games.
• Safety lead: receives alerts, goes to see the person, decides whether to warn or remove.
• Bar: serves and spots risky behavior.

In Klarrro, team members are included from the Étoile plan; the number of accesses depends on the plan (see Pricing). Each member has their own access, limited to the events you assign them to, and a role. The “Staff” and “Security” roles handle reports (warn, ban); the “Host” role launches the games from the app, with the Pro and Élite plans. With Solo, you run the organizer area yourself.

Briefing before opening

Gather the team before opening to go over:

• the principle of the event in one sentence, the same for everyone;
• the posted rules, and what earns a warning or removal;
• who responds to an alert, where to accompany someone who feels unwell, when to call 17 or 112;
• the program and the end time.

Equipment and setup

• A screen, if you have one. The VideoWall Love is a web page: a connected TV, a projector or a computer with a browser is enough. It is optional, but it shows the whole room the matches and, depending on your plan, the games. See the article The VideoWall, the ingredient of memorable nights.
• The A4 poster with the QR code. It can be downloaded from the organizer area, with the event code. Print some for the entrance, the counter and the tables.
• The network. Test mobile reception everywhere, including near the restrooms, where an alert may be sent from. If it is weak, display the guest Wi-Fi password next to the QR code.
• Physical badges. By default, the app asks each participant to show their number to your team to receive their physical badge: plan for numbered badges to hand out at the welcome desk, and agree during the demo on who supplies them. If you do not hand any out, enable self-service badge distribution in the event settings.
• Something to recharge with. A dead phone means a participant who drops out: keep a charger at the counter.

Before the event, the diagnostic in the Klarrro organizer area reviews the setup (times, capacity, welcome message, address) and flags what is missing.

Promoting the event

A singles night fills up before the day itself. Start as soon as the date is set, and repeat the message until the evening itself.

• In your bar: the poster at the counter, the chalkboard, a word from the team to regulars.
• On your social networks: the day, the time, the place and the principle in one line, for example “a number, messages, games, no name displayed”, with visuals that speak to all the audiences you want to welcome.
• In the Klarrro agenda: if you enable it, your event appears in the public agenda on klarrro.com.
• On your website: the agenda widget is embedded with a code to copy and shows your upcoming events published in the agenda, with your accent color.
• In an Instagram story: the video generator in the organizer area produces an MP4 story in 1,080 × 1,920 pixel format, from templates.

Announce the next date during the event, on the microphone or with a message sent to all participants from the dashboard.

Note: Klarrro’s terms of use prohibit you from reusing participants’ contact details outside the event, for your campaigns for example.

Typical running order on the night

One possible sequence, to adapt to your room; the durations are up to you. In Klarrro, the hourly program you compose is shown to participants, and the live schedule chains the activity blocks.

1. Welcome and QR code. Participants scan the QR code, enter their e-mail and phone number, receive their number and come to the welcome desk to collect their physical badge. The welcome team sums it up: “You write to a number; if they write back, it’s a match.”
2. Conversations open. Exchanges open at the event’s start time. Until then, participants who have already signed up see a countdown in the app, which builds anticipation.
3. Icebreaker. At the first message, the app suggests opening lines according to the chosen level of boldness.
4. Games (Pro and Élite plans). Quiz, Truth or Dare and prize draw, launched from the app by the team member with the “Host” role.
5. Phone-free break (Phone Free). For the duration you set, the app invites everyone to put their phone down and talk in person.
6. End announced. If the end time is set, participants are notified automatically half an hour before: time for the last messages.
7. Recap. Each participant gets a summary of their night, with their number of matches and messages.

All the features of our event entertainment software for bars are presented on the Klarrro Pro home page; getting started is explained in the How it works section.

Safety and consent

Strangers meeting at night, with alcohol around: the event needs a framework. It reassures participants, women in particular, and helps your team act quickly if a problem arises.

Before: rules known to everyone

• Post a few rules at the entrance and repeat them in the event’s welcome message: respect, no insisting after a refusal, reporting any uncomfortable behavior.
• Appoint a safety lead. If your plan includes team members (from Étoile), give them the “Security” role in Klarrro. With Solo, keep the control room open yourself to follow alerts.
• If your venue uses it, remind people of the “Ask for Angela” scheme: a person who feels in danger asks for “Angela” at the counter, and the team helps them discreetly.

During: alert, report, act

• Safe Place. A participant alerts your team from their phone, adding if they wish a message and the number of the badge concerned. The alert reaches your organizer area: the “Reports” counter in the control room updates at regular intervals during the event, and the details open in the moderation screen. Keep the control room displayed throughout the event. Most often, the alert concerns someone met in the room, not a conversation: your team takes over on site.
• Reports. A participant can report a conversation, and banned words are automatically censored.
• Moderation. Your team reads the reported conversation, then warns or bans the badge. A banned badge is logged out and cannot immediately sign up again with the same contact details.
• Emergency. A button sends all participants using the app a message asking them to head calmly to the exit and follow staff instructions. It complements, without replacing, your venue’s safety instructions and alarms.

Klarrro provides the tools; moderation remains with your team.

Consent, built into the format

Participants are identified by a badge number, with no name displayed. A match does not exchange any contact details: each person then decides whether to go further or not. Truth or Dare offers the “I’m not taking part” option.

When signing up in the app, each participant provides an e-mail and a phone number. These details are collected for the event and for safety. They are kept for 30 days after sign-up, and can be used during that period if law enforcement requests them. App-free badges, created by your team for the Tableau du Love, do not include them. The full protocol is on the Safe Place page.

After the event

• Process the remaining reports: each one stays viewable for 7 days, with the conversation frozen at the time of the report. Other messages expire 24 hours after the last exchange.
• Read the reviews: the “Participant reviews” screen in your organizer area gathers the average rating and the comments left by participants. Recurring remarks tell you what to change.
• Debrief with the team: what got stuck at the welcome desk, the quiet moments, the incidents.
• Set the next date: announced on site and published in the agenda, it turns a successful event into a regular meeting point.

To avoid the classic pitfalls: The 5 mistakes that kill the atmosphere of a singles night.

Checklist

Beforehand

• Choose the format and the weeknight.
• Set the start time, end time and frequency.
• Set the event capacity, below the maximum allowed.
• Create the event (or the series), setting the start time, which opens conversations.
• Assign the roles: welcome, running the event, safety lead, bar.
• Start the promotion: poster, social networks, agenda, story.

On the day, before opening

• Test mobile reception and Wi-Fi throughout the room.
• Display the QR code at the entrance, the counter and the tables.
• Open the VideoWall Love on the screen, if you have one.
• Prepare the physical badges (or enable self-service distribution) and enable the Tableau du Love in the settings.
• Display the rules and brief the team.
• Check that the control room is open on the safety lead’s device.

During the event

• Welcome people and explain the principle in one sentence.
• Follow the program, and re-energize when the room dips.
• Handle every alert without delay.
• Announce the next date.

Afterwards

• Close the reports.
• Read the reviews and note the recurring remarks.
• Debrief with the team and publish the next date.

Frequently asked questions

Launch your first event

The Klarrro tool provides the digital side: badge numbers, messaging, games depending on your plan, VideoWall Love and Safe Place alerts passed on to your team. Your team keeps what makes your bar what it is: the welcome, the service, the atmosphere and the response to alerts.

For a first trial, the Solo plan costs €69 excl. VAT per event, with no commitment. For a regular meeting point, subscriptions with a commitment take over: Étoile (€199 excl. VAT/month or €1,990 excl. VAT/year, up to 3 events per month) and Pro (€349 excl. VAT/month or €3,490 excl. VAT/year, up to 10 events per month).

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