PENNINGTON POST – Mar 19 - Jodi Meyer is Director of the Lawrenceville branch of Two of Us, a matchmaking service with 14 offices across the country. Meyer is resolutely old school and against online dating services. “The Internet has killed socializing and it’s destroying relationships,” she says. Folks looking to join Two of Us, which in New Jersey and Pennsylvania alone has a network of ~10,000 members, are screened with a criminal background check, as well as investigated for histories with drugs, alcohol, violence and severe financial difficulties. Once in the program, members are matched on age, compatibility, chemistry, attraction and long-term goals. Meyer says Two of Us boasts an 80% success rate, and a less than 8% divorce rate among members who meet and marry. FULL ARTICLE @ BUCKS LOCAL NEWS
Month: March 2010
Online Dating Goes Mobile
KWGN DENVER – Mar 22 – Skout.com is a virtual mobile dating service that uses GPS technology to hook you up with singles in your area. When you log into the app, Skout automatically shows you where other Skout singles are in your area. You click on the picture of someone you find interesting, then send them a message. The website and application are both free.
The full article was originally published at KWGN Denver, but is no longer available.
BeNaughty Reaches 3 Million Profiles
PRESS RELEASE – Mar 19 - An online UK dating site BeNaughty has grown
to 3M member profiles over the past couple of years. The website is
aimed at 18yr+ members looking for chat, flirting and more. FULL ARTICLE @ RELEASE-NEWS.COM
Dating Service Puts Accent On Accents
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL – Mar 17 – Rochelle Peachey, a British expatriate, has launched iloveyouraccent.com,a dating site with an unusual twist. It's aimed at Americans looking to
meet men and women with British accents, and Brits who are looking to
meet Americans. FULL ARTICLE @ THE RECORD
Got $500k Handy? SetForMarriage.com Is Looking For Funding
OPW – Mar 20 – SetForMarriage.com is an online matrimonial site currently looking for $500K to $1 million investment. It started 6 months ago and has seen positive signs for growth. It takes a niche approach but unlike eHarmony, does no match making. Marriage minded users create free profiles and browse for matches. The site seems to be gaining press attention, and I like the positioning. Founder/CEO Brad Boyd (see interview) is a US Navy vet. and is currently a student at the University of Houston Business School. – Mark Brooks
Senate Bill 129 Hearing
OPW – Mar 19 – The Maryland State legislature recently caused quite an uproar, when a few Maryland locals found out about a proposed Bill, that could potentially render problems for the online dating industry. The International Marriage Brokers Bill was proposed in such a manner that it could have very easily evaded the public eye. However, Maryland local Michael Parrotte, has been hard at work trying to spread the word about the Bills regulations. Parrotte, who has been leading the charge on preventing House Bill 65 and Senate Bill 129, has asked for help from the industry. SB129 is scheduled to be heard by the Economic Matters Committee, on Wednesday, March 24th at 1 p.m. Parrotte will be compiling and delivering letters for anyone who wishes to participate in fighting the Bills. Each person's testimony should have the Bill Number with “support or oppose” (Oppose SB129) (Oppose HB65) in bold on the top right of the first page of the testimony. Testimony should be brief and limited to one page if possible. You can reach Parrotte with your letter VIA email, at michael@agvsport.com.
Gay Men Meet Up Through Grindr App For iPhone
SF GATE – Mar 19 – Gays are "grinding," the latest verb in the gay lexicon, which refers to the new gay dating app for the iPhone called Grindr. It uses GPS technology to download hundreds of pictures of available men within walking distance. As of this month, Grindr has 500,000 users worldwide and 2,000 more join daily. The free version of the app is supported by ads, and the $2.99 monthly ad-free version allows users to view twice the number of men – 200 – at once. FULL ARTICLE @ SF CHRONICLE
Sex.com Auction Takes A Cold Shower
CNN MONEY – Mar 18 - Buyers lusting after one of the most lucrative domain names in the world, sex.com, will have to wait for their chance to bid on the coveted Internet property. The rights to sex.com were scheduled to be auctioned off Thursday, with bidders required to put up $1M just to get in the door, after the previous owner, Escom, went into foreclosure for unpaid debts. But the auction was postponed after Escom was forced into bankruptcy court late Wednesday by a group of creditors. Matthews said there had been "significant interest" in the domain name, but he declined to say how many bidders were scheduled to take part in the auction. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY
iovation Named Finalist For Technology-Service Company Of The Year
BUSINESS WIRE – Mar 17 - iovation, provider of the device reputation service for preventing online fraud and abuse, has been named a finalist by TechAmerica Oregon for the 2010 Oregon Technology Awards in the category of technology-service company of the year. This year's winners will be announced at the Oregon Technology Awards event on May 6, 2010 at the Portland Art Museum in Portland.
The full article was originally published at BusinessWire, but is no longer available.