Harrison Forman is taking the dating scene in New York City by storm.

Harrison, who graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management, moved to New York City to pursue a career with tech company League Apps, which provides registration systems, apps, and websites for youth sports clubs in America.

Additionally, he produces one of the fastest-growing dating shows in New York City – UpDating. The concept is one-of-a-kind: Two people go on a blind date in front of audience members. Its website states that Updating is “an interactive show with audience participation, brutally honest moments, and relatable feedback on modern romance in real-time with real people.”

Over the course of 80 minutes, daters are blindfolded and ask questions of each other in addition to receiving questions and topic suggestions from audience members through Twitter DMs.

The blindfolds come off halfway through, and audience members can crash the date if interested. Audience members vote for a variety of options at the conclusion of the date, including whether participants hug it out or kiss.

Updating is the brainchild of Harrison and his comedic colleague and friend Brandon Berman.

Harrison has always been into reality TV. He live-streamed his dates on Facebook while living in San Francisco. “I was telling a relatable story. People liked it, but I started having dates cancel on me,” he said.

He connected with Berman, who wanted to translate Harrison’s experiences to the stage.

Harrison remembered the power of live sporting events from his SM classes, so he tried to emulate that.

“It’s more than a comedy show where you have a glass of wine and leave. It’s an experience,” he said. “I think sports actually taught me about that because…when you go to a sporting event, you’re not there to just watch the x’s and o’s. You’re there for the experience.”

The audience is eating it up, much to Harrison’s delight. One dater told him she didn’t want to go on any other type of date again.

“I think a lot of people, especially New Yorkers, who are single are jaded by dating apps and the regular way to go on a date. We created this pretty inclusive, fun, exhilarating experience and they and they all gravitated towards that,” he said.

The critics have taken notice too, with TimeOut New York calling it “one of the things to do.” Harrison has also been featured on The Today Show, CNBC, and in the Washington Post. The show has become so popular that Harrison is now working on it full-time.

“You have to do something out there that is really going to stand out. When you think about what’s more valuable, 100 Instagram followers or 100 people in a room for an hour-and-a-half that consume your show, your product, it’s the latter,” he said. “Digital is just so cluttered and crowded. So if you can get people in a room, it’s a lot more powerful.”

So how has he managed to keep up the social scene in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic?

According to Harrison, UpDating has transitioned to the video conferencing platform Zoom. It’s now a virtual show that connects and engages the audience via computer. The show in its new online format has been featured on ABC and PopSugar.

Harrison traces his entrepreneurial spirit back to his Kinesiology days. “What is cool about Kines, versus other programs that exist on campus, you had to constantly be entrepreneurial, constantly come up with your own ways of solving problems,” he said. “I loved all those group presentations. I think that when you get into the real world, you realize that soft skills are what matter the most for most people.”

One of Harrison’s best memories was joining the Sport Business Association as the marketing director and later becoming its president. His goal was simple: to provide a better member experience. He accomplished it by creating sign-up forms and an attendance policy so SBA could invest in its participating members.

“Kines, it’s such an interesting, unique school that a lot of programs on campus can learn from,” he said. “I used being the SBA president as a way to connect with other student leaders. It was cool for me to push Sport Management, push SBA’s agenda, not just in Kines, but across campus.”    

Harrison’s road to New York, UpDating, and League Apps came from a willingness to learn and a can-do attitude and spirit. His first job after graduation was a sales rep position in San Francisco. He bounced around a few start-up companies before landing at Facebook as a member of their media partnership team.

He left Facebook to start his own media production company, and after working briefly for another sports media company, he landed at League Apps, which was founded by a U-M alum.

Harrison offers three pieces of advice to future Kinesiology alumni. His first is to get to know your classmates because you never know who you might need to connect with in the future. Second is to leave a legacy behind because it will help your resume get noticed. Finally, he says to specialize and find a niche that will help you stand out from everyone else.

“Find that adjacent area that you can double down that connects to sports,” he said. “For me, it became media and technology in sports.”