Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer
Hunter Werner, Warrensburg Class of 2012, is finding success with his “Wingman of the Year” digital media and events company. On Aug. 29, he and Adirondack Thunder personality Billy Floyd will host a speed dating event at Davidson Brothers Brewery in Glens Falls.
Hunter has found success online with viral clips and interviews.
Wingman has 86.3k followers on Tiktok, and 14.6k on Instagram.
He racked up over 563,000 plays on Tiktok with an impromptu interview with Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy at the Saratoga Race Track. A man-on-the-street interview on Caroline Street in Saratoga reached over 1.4 million views.
Hunter, who wore a periwinkle blue suit while interviewing Portnoy, admitted, “I got a lot of hate on it” from commenters who said “leave [Portnoy] alone, he probably just lost like 10 grand.”
“It was a little cringey. But I knew what I was doing out there. Sometimes cringey gets views,” Hunter said.
His dream is to scale into a massive media and live events company. He envisions one day having “Wingman” chicken-wing restaurants.
“I used to live in Glens Falls pretty much my whole younger 20s, before I went to New Hampshire for the Navy,” says Hunter, who now lives in Albany.
“I was in the Navy for nine years. I signed up when I was 18, went to boot camp when I was 19.” He said he spent roughly half his time active-duty, half the time in the reserves. He said he always wanted to make social media content.
“I couldn’t do a whole lot when I was in the military, because I represented the military. And they don’t really like content creators over there,” Hunter said.
Lately, his focus has shifted to in-person events. “We see a lot of people gravitating towards them,” he said.
They’ve done “wild and uncensored” live dating shows at the Comedy Works and Putnam Den in Saratoga and also in Rutland, Vermont.
Hunter said the first show sold out, and the second at the Comedy Works had double the attendance — 200 people.
The shows feature a bachelor or bachelorette and three eligible dates.
They play games with contestants and the audience. “Everybody in the audience has flags” — red flags and green flags, Hunter said. “It’s just super interactive, and at the end, we hope we have a match, and go from there.”
Hunter said contestants often bring their friends which helps juice turnout.
They’re now doing speed dating events — four in August in Schenectady, Albany, Saratoga and Glens Falls.
Davidson Brothers’ event, for ages 24-40, is Thursday, Aug. 29, at 6:30 p.m. for $17.85. Hunter said a ticket fee is key.
“Obviously, it’s a business, but if people aren’t paying, they’re not going to take it seriously…I truly believe that the most important thing when it comes to dating is effort. And if somebody comes to a speed dating event, that means they’re ahead of the pack,” he said.
The focus is creating a “fun environment,” Hunter said.
The Glens Falls event is one age bracket, others have multiple age categories.
The hardest demographic to attract? “Men above 40,” Hunter said.
He said “young men are definitely most eager. Women above 40 are also super eager. They’re like, it’s tough to date. There’s nowhere to meet anyone.”
Glens Falls is the “smallest market we’ve done so far, compared to Schenectady, Albany and Saratoga,” Hunter said.
“We’re going to try to bring 50 local daters there. I’ve already seen people travel 40 minutes for this. People just want the opportunity to meet each other. So we’re gonna see what Glens Falls has got.”
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