Girls In Tech

***Update!  You didn’t miss this event – it’s been moved to Monday, October 19th and is being hosted at the lovely E&O Trading Co., near Union Square in downtown San Francisco.  We’ve also just added Zoosk Co-founder and Co-CEO, Alex Mehr, to our panel of experts.  Zoosk boasts being the largest social dating community and allows it’s users to connect to all members regardless of which social network one uses, meaning Facebookers can meet MySpacers, Hi5ers and others from their own Facebook page, and vice versa.***

 

Since 1995, when the first major online dating site began offering the ability to meet dates over the internet by way of user generated profiles, the online dating industry has grown and changed by leaps and bounds.  Starting as a service people rarely admitted to using yet becoming part of everyday conversation, “We met online”, is a common phrase many of us have uttered – or at least know someone who’s uttered it.  How did this industry overcome such stigma to become one of the most competitive online businesses? 

One online dating provider claims that from their service alone there were 33,000 marriages that occurred in a one year period.  The same article in Online Dating Magazineestimates that the inclusive number for marriages resulting from all online dating sites is over 100,000 annually!  Daters are flocking to online providers; Match and eHarmony saw 16% and 20% growth when compared to the same time frame the previous year with Match boasting over 15 million current members.

At Girls in Tech: Virtual Dating 101, we’ll explore the evolution on the online dating industry guided by our expert panelist from Perfect Search, Thread (formerly Frintro), Single Mom Seeking and SpeedDate.  We’ll consider how as a society on the whole the ways we work, live and love have all changed in ways to allow the online medium to overcome major stigma and become the dating norm in a short 14 year span.  This event will also be discussing the different approaches to fee structures (paid/free/SNS) used by providers and looking ahead to see what’s next to keep us engaged and anxiously awaiting that You’ve got mail! alert.

Alternatives to the classic user-created profile model are being offered by both Thread and SpeedDate.  Thread has created an alternative to the classic online dating model by allowing friends to introduce their friends to one another online, to see if sparks fly.  No more meeting complete strangers!  SpeedDate on the other hand believes that two people know if there’s a connection within the first 3 minutes of meeting one another – and havecreated a platform to give you that 3 minutes instantly.  In less time than it takes you to get ready for a coffee date, SpeedDate allows you to test that spark factor!

Leading our discussion as moderating panelist is Melinda Maximova, Relationship Expert and Founder and Matchmaker at Perfect Search, a VIP matchmaking service which combines old-world, face-to-face matchmaking consultations with the added convenience and speed of the internet.  Melinda holds a higher degree in Sociology and Human Sexuality and has authored an e-book, Power Shift: Rescue Dating For Women.  Additionally, she is a writer for Examiner.com, offers classes on how to become a matchmaker and teaches with the Learning Annex.  We are excited to have such an expert in the field of relationships and matchmaking to guide Virtual Dating 101.

We’re not ones for all work and no play, so once we’ve covered the business side of the industry we’ll move toward user tips from Rachel Sarah, online dating expert, author of Single Mom Seeking and founder of one the largest blogs for single parents, who will address the most common missteps people make when dating online.  Also a contributor for Match.com, Rachel claims there is a science to successful online dating and she’ll be on hand to share with us what she’s garnered first hand from her experiences in the field.

Online dating services have come a long way since inception and there’s certainly something for everyone.  Even if you’re not looking to find a match, you’ll gain valuable insight into the profitable online business from Virtual Dating 101 and you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t to share with your friends who are navigating the world of online amour!

Visit Eventbrite to reserve your space: http://girlsintechvirtualdating101.eventbrite.com/