Every community faces the same dilemma: how do parents find quality babysitters? Katy Langhorst and Tara Harville-Fry have provided a solution within their own community. Their business is called SitterMixer.
It has been less than eight months since their business has launched, and they’ve already received one award for their services, reports Hamilton-Wenham Patch.
Sitter Mixers are events where parents can interview 5-10 potential babysitters with a backdrop of vendor boutiques and refreshments. All the participants are eligible for door prizes and raffles.
“The atmosphere is part cocktail party, part speed dating and part job fair,” Langhorst explained.
They came up with the idea when they couldn’t get women together for a moms night out because of babysitter issues.
The founders held their first sitter mixer at Mall Tots in Danvers last October and were overwhelmed by the positive response.
“We started getting calls from other moms groups asking if we could run an event for their groups, and it snowballed from there,†explained Langhorst.
Since then they have had six events, with two more scheduled for this spring.
Parents and sitters both have to pre-register online. The fee is $39 for parents (usually the mom attends) and $5 for sitters who must be 15-years-old or older. The sitters fill out an application with two references, while the moms fill out an information form.
Screenshot from SitterMixer