OPW — Nov 19 — MyPartner, a new online dating and private matchmaking agency for gay men, is looking for: Executive Assistant to CEO (direct daily support to the CEO and myPartner's top matchmaking clients, salary: $15-20/hour), Membership Sales Director ($75k-$140k, base + bonus), Executive Matchmaker (provide executive matchmaking services to multiple clients, fulfilling client contracts and searches, $50k- $75k base + bonuses), Telesales Rep ($40k-$55k, base + uncapped commission).
Category: MyPartner
myPartnerPerfect Becomes MyPartner.com
PRESS RELEASE — Nov 11 — The company, which is the Gay Man's answer to eHarmony, recently shortened its name to myPartner.com. The site is targeted at gay men looking for relationships rather than casual dating and offers matchmaking and dating advice. It uses a process called the Partner Perfect Compatibility™ Matching System developed by its founder, Dr. Patrick H. Perrine, which is specific to the complexities of gay men seeking gay men. FULL ARTICLE @ NEWSWIRE TODAY
Mark Brooks: The myPartnerPerfect.com domain was just a little too long. myPartner.com is a name that is on par with the eHarmony.com name. Now myPartner just needs $20 million for Q1's TV ad budget… (Disclosure: myPartner is a Courtland Brooks client)
Matchmakers Conference This Friday to Sunday
OPW — If you have any interest in the business of matchmaking, I'd recommend you consider attending the Matchmakers Conference this Friday and Saturday. You might also want to stick around for the matchmakers training on Sunday, which is included. ~100 matchmaking industry executives, top level matchmakers, marketers and press will be in attendance. The matchmaking industry is the antithesis of the online dating industry in many ways. I'm looking forward to learning from the Yentas, and figuring out how to pair the two industries together more effectively.
I'll be keynoting along with Helen Fisher of Chemistry.com/Match.com. Master matchmaker Julie Ferman is moderating. Paul Falzone from The Right One & Together Dating, Evan Marc Katz from e-cyrano, Bill Broadbent from Instinct Marketing, Patrick Perrine from myPartner, and Violet Lim from Lunch Actually in Singapore will be speaking amongst others. See MatchmakersConference.com.
Matchmakers Conference Next Week
OPW — Sep 17 — The first ever Matchmakers Conference is happening next week Friday 28th September, and Saturday, with an optional Sunday matchmaker training session. The conference suits prospective matchmakers, current professional matchmakers and those interested in learning more about the matchmaking business. I'm doing the keynote sesssion "State of the Dating & Matchmaking Industry: Statistics, Trends & Market Overview." Dr Helen Fisher from Match.com/Chemistry.com, Paul Falzone from The Right One/Together Dating, Julie Paiva from Table For Six, Patrick Perrine from myPartner.com and many others will be presenting. See the program. Press, please call me at 212-444-1636 asap to arrange your press pass.
Dr Houran’s Interview With Patrick Perrine Of myPartnerPerfect
ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE — Aug 8 — Patrick Perrine is the President of the newly-launched gay site myPartnerPerfect.
Dr. Jim: Congratulations on your launch, Patrick. Tell us, why did it take so long for someone to establish a site that catered to gays?
Patrick: Thank you. I don't know why it has taken so long for the industry to identify this tremendous opportunity. It was partially because of the eHarmony policy and other relationship sites' lack of service to the gay segment that I founded myPartnerPerfect. For far too long the industry has neglected the gay community and their pursuit of life-partners. Instead, the dating service industry has been flooded with gay sites that only promote hook-ups and short-term encounters. I don't object to sites with that goal, but a very large segment of the gay community is looking for something deeper, that can last a lifetime. That's exactly what the myPartnerPerfect system was designed to do.
Dr. Jim: Do you think all of the recent, negative press around eHarmony is fair, or are these just cheap shots from competitors and a few dissatisfied customers?
Patrick: I think the larger issue being drawn out in the press isn't with the focus of eHarmony's services, but the underlying premise of that focus. Sites like eHarmony will always have a place in the world of online dating and relationships, but it is my hope that myPartnerPerfect can help fill the void in the market and foster many happy and healthy relationships for gay men.
Dr. Jim: What's the difference between a niche site that caters to a specific audience versus a site that is accused of being discriminatory?
Patrick: Wikipedia describes a niche market as "a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers." eHarmony, in my opinion, essentially started out as a niche site for marriage-oriented heterosexual Christians. Dr. Warren himself attributes much of eHarmony's success to its ties to Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian community. It was only recently that Dr. Warren and eHarmony began distancing themselves from that "niche" market as the site began growing rapidly and they began positioning themselves for the masses. myPartnerPerfect is completely forthwith about the segmented "niche" market we cater to due to the demand in the market that is not being met.
Dr. Jim: In what ways does the culture of your service and site differ significantly from large sites, like Match or Yahoo! Personals, which try to address the dating needs of everyone?
Patrick: myPartnerPerfect is an exclusively gay site that has been designed to cater to gay men. Much like any other niche site, myPartnerPerfect addresses the areas of partner selection that are not only important to our community, but unique to our community. Although there are many similarities between heterosexual and homosexual relationships, there are also many differences in partner selection. Our Partner Perfect Compatibility™ matching system was designed because of the many differences of gay partner selection in the areas of relationship styling, characteristics of partner selection, partner qualities and personalities, and above all else, cultural and sexual lifestyle considerations.
Dr. Jim: From your experience and research, are gays more interested in compatibility testing (and perhaps long-term relationships) than other groups? If so, why might this be?
Patrick: I wouldn't say that gay men are more interested or less interested in compatibility testing than the general population. I think that gay men are a very discerning population of consumers and demand the very "best of breed" of anything they patron and that's why myPartnerPerfect has developed the Partner Perfect Compatibility™ matching system.
Dr. Jim: What does a customer really get for his money at your site — what are the compelling features that can't be found elsewhere?
Patrick: In addition to the unique Partner Perfect matches presented to the user by our matching system, members can search the database with 5 different customized browsing tools (including our Deal Breaker Search, our Partner Perfect Search, and our Custom Search). We also have unique profile customization tools, a monthly gay-relationship eNewsletter, private matchmaking services, anonymous phone calling, our myProfilePartner™ personal profile advice and review services, monthly socials and singles mixers, weDate!™ group dinners, and our a la carte menu to select the features that are most important to the user who is not yet ready to commit to a full Premium Membership.
FULL ARTICLE @ ONLINE DATING MAGAZINE
TIME Calls Time Out On eHarmony
TIME MAGAZINE — July 14 — TIME Magazine named eHarmony.com one of five Internet sites to avoid because of its power to cause utter despair. eHarmony claims a more "scientific" approach with personality questionnaires. On typical dating sites, you are less likely to take it personally. But if you revealed yourself and the site delivers terrible recommendations — or rejects you as unmatchable — what do you tell yourself then? The company's advice to stick with it for months, runs up costs. The site also discriminates against gays.
The full article was originally published at Time, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: eHarmony is getting a hammering? Is it fair? I think they have a right to choose what market to focus on. myPartnerPerfect recently launched to serve the gay serious dating market. PlentyofFish has been quietly working away on some new personality profiling tests.
Matchmakers & Introduction Services Conference
PRESS RELEASE — July 12 — On Sept. 28-30 the first Matchmaker Event & Expo will gather personal matchmakers, introduction agencies and dating coaches from all over the country and abroad. With ~1,500 independent matchmakers in the U.S. generating $250 million last year, the matchmaking industry is booming. The 2-day conference will be followed with a 1-day matchmaker certification on September 30, 2007. Over 100 matchmakers and dating coaches are expected.
– Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating
– Patrick Perrine, specialist in Human Mating Preferences, founder of myPartnerPerfect
– Dr Helen Fisher, research professor and anthropologist, author of "Why we love"
– Patti Novak, Confessions of a Matchmaker (A&E)
– Lisa Clampitt, CMM, CSW, co-founder of the Matchmaking Institute
– Julie Ferman, CMM, founder of Cupid's Coach
– Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch
The full article was originally published at Fast Pitch, but is no longer available.
Matchmakers Conference, September 28-29
PRESS RELEASE — July 2 — The first worldwide conference for professional matchmakers will take place on Sept 28-29, 2007 in Weehawken, NJ. With over 1500 independent matchmakers in the US and sales of $250m last year, the matching making industry is growing steadily. Topics at the conference will include Dating & Relationship Coaching; Dealing with Challenging Clients; Business Models; Marketing & Lead Generation; etc. Speakers include Paul Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating, Dr Helen Fisher, research professor and anthropologist, and Patrick Perrine, specialized in Human Mating Preferences and founder of myPartnerPerfect.com. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB
Mark Brooks: This is a must see event for those interested in learning more about, and partnering with, the 'real-world' matchmaking industry.
myPartnerPerfect CEO, Patrick Perrine – OPW Interview
OPW INTERVIEW — June 24, 2007 — It’s Gay Pride! Time for an interview with the gay Hitch, Patrick H.Perrine, the CEO and Founder of myPartnerPerfect.com. – Mark Brooks
What is your background?
I originally started with St. John’s University where I studied psychology. My main focus was on human dating preferences, specifically drawing parallels from Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory research and Kinsey’s research on sexuality, then applying those to the LGBT community.
From there I continued on to get my Master’s in Human Sexuality Studies and started focusing again on the gay male population, doing counseling and working with individuals. Following my Master’s I continued on to get my PHD in Psychology.
myPartnerPerfect.com just launched. Why did you start myPartnerPerfect?
It was when I was doing my counseling for gay men that I uncovered that a lot of gay men, like myself, have issues based either around the lack of relationship or in the current relationships that they’re in. Once I started doing research as to how I could better serve these individuals through the counseling process, I uncovered that there really aren’t that many tools for gay men to develop healthy and happy relationships.
The online dating world was pretty void of any site that would help facilitate those relationships. That’s why I started the private matchmaking service to work with clients one-on-one to help them identify their needs and wants. We’re specifically going to work for them to develop that happy and healthy relationship that they’re seeking. That’s what brought us to today.
How does heterosexual compatibility testing differ from homosexual compatibility testing?
They’re very similar when you look at relationship styling, personality profiling and elements of relationship compatibility. The difference with gay men and with gay relationships is that there are a multitude of different cultural factors that go into how they seek and pursue a relationship.
I think one of the biggest differences we need to look at is that from the get go there aren’t too many relationships for gay people to identify with as they’re growing up, identifying and uncovering their sexuality. There’s a major gap in representation. Just that alone affects the way that gay men are able to identify the appropriate relationship styling for them.
Who would you say are your competitors for myPartnerPerfect?
I think the direct competition for services like ours are going to be the comprehensive relationship based sites. Sites that offer profiling systems, compatibility systems that are, of course, focusing on the gay men market. I think Chemistry.com does a great job of presenting a relationship focus for the gay community unlike any other site. eHarmony obviously doesn’t provide these services for the gay community, which is what opened the door for myPartnerPerfect.
Are there any particular sites that have inspired you as you were working on myPartnerPerfect?
Definitely, eHarmony. I think eHarmony does a great job of presenting the message of commitment and there’s a large segment of the gay community that is looking for a long-term life partnership. The methodology that eHarmony uses, even though it is applied to heterosexual couples, is very similar to the methodology that myPartnerPerfect.com uses in the sense that we’re looking for compatibility based on a series of different dimensions. They were a good model for us.
In closing, what are your goals for 2007 through 2008?
Our goal is really to be able to position myPartnerPerfect as a sophisticated and classy website that caters to the gay population and not only is provides a lot of successful matches for that user base but also just presents a representation that’s different from the current online environment. We will let people know that gay individuals do, in fact, want to have committed relationships and that it does take work to make those relationships happen.
myPartnerPerfect Launches Gay Matchmaking Service
EDGE — June 12 — myPartnerPerfect.com launched recently. Its the first dating service with a compatibility system specifically designed for gay men. The man behind the "love engine" is Patrick H.Perrine, creator of the Partner Perfect Compatibility test. In similar fashion to eHarmony, members use guided communication tools and begin conversations with other members, whilst learning the secrets of developing a successful relationship through Patrick's Dating Advice column, e-newsletters and articles. In addition, Private Matchmaking services are available. FULL ARTICLE @ EDGE