Stace Owsley, a 33-year-old human resources assistant, is a vivacious dirty-blonde with a great smile, sparkling brown eyes and a ready laugh. And she's the object of attention for 11 bachelors. Contestant No. 1, a recent arrival to Tucson, is slim, with somewhat angular features and a thicket of brown hair. He commiserates with her that she's being followed around by a reporter who will recount her dating endeavors to all of Tucson. "Right, no pressure," she jokes. It's an easy exchange. There is a lot of smiling. Contestant No. 2, studying to be a certified public accountant, starts off with a compliment - rarely a bad idea. He tells her he's sure she's very photogenic and will look great in the newspaper. He plays the guitar and works hard, but assures her he's not all work - he has a wild side, too. There's no time to hear much about that wild side, but he does take a sip of Owsley's decidedly frou-frou melon ball drink. Contestant No. 3. He's cute and stylish in a not-trying-too-hard kind of way, since he's wearing flip flops. An attorney, he speaks with an English accent and has a Hugh Grant kind of charm about him. And he's observant. Instead of the usual why-are-you-here, what-do-you-do routine, he asks about the silver ring on her right hand. And so the night goes. Contestant No. 7, a lanky engineer, with brown eyes and a nice smile, starts by telling her she looks familiar. "I know that's a pick-up line, usually, but I figure it's safe because here you don't have to worry about that," he said. "Here" is the world of speed dating, an event that guarantees you'll meet a dozen people by the end of the night. And we don't mean by asking lame questions in the grocery produce aisle or making unsolicited comments about their weightlifting form at the gym, but actually sitting down at a candlelit table across from them and having a real conversation. Granted, the exchanges are short ones, but they're long on potential. Here's the concept: 12 single women and 12 single men of similar ages pair up at 12 tables in a local restaurant's banquet room. The chat commences. They have six minutes before a bell rings, telling the men it's time to rotate to another table. There are a few rules, all of which have to do with making sure no one has to polish up the you're-great-but-I'm-still-healing schtick. There is no asking for phone numbers, or worse, asking if the person picked you for another date. At the end of the night, you turn in your sheet to organizers, where you've marked that you'd like to talk more with Bachelor Nos. 4 and 10, for example, and they'll let you know if 4 and 10 wanted to get to know you better, as well. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses are then exchanged. At the halfway point, Owsley recaps how it's going. This is her fifth attempt - she met someone she really clicked with the third time, but he moved to Germany for work - and she's noticed that white-collar professionals are dominating the scene tonight. The first night Owsley came, there were a number of pharmacists and doctors and attorneys in the group. The second time, a number of teachers. Tonight has more of a mix, but there are a lot of engineers. She thinks it's going well so far - and indeed from our vantage point, there has been only one cross-your-eyes-dull guy. The rest have been engaging and upbeat. Owsley's not into looks as much as finding someone who's professional and outgoing. "It's kind of exciting. Sort of like Christmas. For the next 24 hours, I think, 'Did I pick the right guy? Did he pick me back?' " Her younger sister got married in May, so she's starting to get impatient looks from her family. "I just think in our society, it's getting more difficult to meet the right person the traditional way. We're so mobile now that it's very different from the '50s, when you married your high school sweetheart," she said. At the end of the night, she has checked her "Let's Talk More" box a couple of times. Pre-Dating Events operates in 70 cities nationwide, and came to Tucson 15 months ago. So far, about 500 Tucsonans have tried it, from 21 years of age to 60, said coordinator Maureen Benigno. Folks who don't make a match the first time, can come back for half-price the second time, and the third time free. Jackie Gill, 33, a chatty, auburn-haired career counselor, was on her first pre-dating venture, and she'd count it as a success. She was a little worried, she said, that there would be uncomfortable lulls in the conversations or that she'd do all the talking, but was pleasantly surprised to find neither of those scenarios panned out. Gill said the online dating scene isn't for her. Something about the austerity of e-mails flying back and forth just doesn't appeal. And, she said, trying to think of a way to say it delicately, "guys at a bar have a bad reputation for why they're there and what they're looking for." "I think people are looking for a safer way to meet," she continued. Speed dating appeals to her because it was just that - speedy. "You didn't have to get stuck in a conversation you didn't want to have. And you don't have to guess about what they're here for. At a club, you don't know if someone is single or if he's even interested in dating." Skip Pomeroy, a 37-year-old land surveyor, said a few of his friends tried pre-dating and talked him into giving it a try. He's a talkative guy, so if worse came to worse, he joked, he could talk about himself for six minutes. His field, he said, is so dominated by men, there are few opportunities to meet women. And he's not a fan of nightclubs. "I don't think there are a lot of 35-year-old women hanging out at bars. It seems to me that bars are more for the 21- to 24-year-olds." When the paperwork is all tallied, it turns out there were 15 matches. That works out to a 72 percent match - down slightly from the 80- and even 90-percent range the company has been seeing at recent events, but still at roughly the national average. Apparently, Stace Owsley wasn't the only one who got to open presents for a Christmas in July.

 

Tucson-area pre-dating options ● Pre-dating Events, which usually holds two events a month, has scheduled the following nights: ● Aug. 9 - Women 21-31, men 23-33, 6:20 p.m. ● Aug. 9 - Women 29-39, men 31-41, 8:30 p.m. Cost per session: $32 before Aug. 6, $35 after ● Aug. 23 - Single professionals in their 40s and 50s, 6:20 p.m. ● Aug. 23 - Single professionals, 37-49, 8:30 p.m. Cost for per session: $32 before Aug. 20, $35 after For more information, head to www.pre-dating.com or call 235-3068. Choc-Alot, 6350 E. Broadway, also offers speed dating. For details, call 748-8889.