You know the feeling. You meet someone lovely at a quiz night or a walk, you get chatting, and you think “I hope I see them at the next one”. Then life gets busy and you never quite find out which events they’re going to.

That’s exactly why we’ve built Connections, our newest feature on the Affinity Club website. It’s a simple way to stay in touch with the members you’ve met, so it’s easier than ever to spot a familiar face and plan your next night out together.

What are Connections?

Connections let you link up with other Affinity members you’ve met at our events. Once you’re connected, you’ll see when they book onto an event, and they’ll see when you do.

That’s it. There’s no messaging, no feeds and no pressure. It’s just a friendly heads up that someone you get on with is going to something, so you can decide whether to join them.

How to connect with someone

Connecting takes seconds:

1. Visit a member’s profile on the Affinity website.
2. Press the Connect button under their bio.
3. They’ll get a request by email and on the website, and can accept it with one click.

Once they accept, you’re connected. You’ll find everyone in your My Connections tab in My Account, where you can also accept new requests, cancel ones you’ve sent, or remove a connection at any time.

See who’s going at a glance

This is where it gets really useful. When you’re browsing upcoming events, look out for the gold ✦ on the event cards. It shows you when your connections are already booked, for example “✦ 2 of your connections are going”.

It makes choosing your next event much easier. If you’re on the fence about trying a new dining night or a board game evening, knowing a couple of familiar faces will be there can make all the difference.

Your new notifications bell

You’ll also notice a new bell at the top of the website when you’re logged in. It’s your notifications centre, showing:

• when your connections book an event
• new connection requests
• when someone accepts your request

A gold ring and a little number on the bell tell you when there’s something new. Tap it to see what’s happening, or open the full list from the Notifications tab in My Account.

We’ll never fill your inbox

We know nobody wants a flood of emails, so we’ve been careful about how often we get in touch:

• One message per event: if several of your connections book the same event, you’ll get one email saying who’s going, not one for each person.
• No more than once every three days for the same event.
• Never late at night: anything that comes in during the evening waits until the morning.
• Everything is still in your bell, so you won’t miss anything even if you’d rather not get emails.

You’re in control of your privacy

Connections has been designed with privacy at its heart:

• Your connections list is private. Other members only see how many connections you have, never who they are.
• We only ever show first names in requests and notifications.
• Your contact details are never shared, and there’s no private messaging between members.
• Booking quietly is fine too. When you book an event, just tick “Don’t let my connections know I’ve booked” at checkout and that booking stays between you and us.
• Declining is discreet. If you decline a request, the other member isn’t told.

You can change your settings at any time in Edit My Profile, under Privacy and notifications. You can turn off connection requests altogether, and choose separately whether you’d like connection updates by email, in the Affinity Club app, or both.

Why we built it

Affinity has always been about meaningful connections. Our events are where friendships start, but they grow when you keep bumping into the same friendly faces. Connections simply makes that a little easier, so the people you click with at one event become the people you look forward to seeing at the next.

Ready to get connected?

Log in, visit the profile of someone you met at a recent event and press Connect. Then take a look at our upcoming events and see who’s already going. Browse upcoming events

We can’t wait to see you, and your connections, at the next one.