Sparkly, I was giving general advice on how to approach the parsha of dating, not referring to one particular guy. The advice still holds even if someone already suggested a guy to you, especially since the suggestion is not relevant now.
If you meet on your own and set up your own date, it is not exactly a shidduch date, which by definition means that there was a shadchan who set you up, a certain amount of pre-dating research, and then the shadchan acts as the go-between. Shidduch dating refers to how it is set up and carried through, not by the behavior on the date. I hope that you keep all the halachos and date tniusdikly no matter how you meet the guy.
If you have an idea of someone you want to date, then you can approach someone who knows you both and ask them to set it up and act as the go-between.
But please, as I said before, do this with your parents’ consent!!!