2 posts tagged “match.com”

No it isn’t. Last Sunday as I walked past Highgate School (TS Eliot used to be a teacher there) on the way to Kenwood House, the sun was shining, it was 24 degrees and I’m off for a a picnic and a few beers with friends. April this year couldn’t get any better.

It certainly couldn’t get any better for Victoria ( username vfrawley on the site) and Si (username availablesi on the site) who appeared with Gail Porter and Toby Anstis on the A-List (a syndicated chart show that goes out on Heart Fm) in a ‘Mr and Mrs’ style quiz to win the opportunity to win £1000. Victoria and Si were selected from 100’s of contestants who are in search of romance and spent the week prior to the show swatting up on each others profiles. They were then asked 5 questions about the other and the one who answered the most won the money. managed to get 4 right and Si got 3 right so she was the winner ……. but there was a twist ……… was immediately put on the spot by Gail and Toby and asked whether she would be prepared to forfeit the £1000 she had won to go on an all expenses trip to with Si (including £500 spending money each). As this wasn’t supposed to be about the money (we are trying to ‘make love happen’ after all) we are all absolutely delighted that she wanted to go on the trip with Si and can’t wait to here whether there is romance in the air when they get back.

I’ve attached some pictures and the audio from the day. All in the all April is a pretty fine month so far.

Toby Anstis, Gail Porter and 2 of our Match.com members

A list radio competition

Good news, no-one tried to flush! (I started a rumour that I used to do Kung Fu and it seems to have put people off). This week I've spent most of time in meetings and on video/conference calls trying to get a feel for our business, our customers and our partners. Its all starting to make sense. Its doesn't seem complicated really (and at the risk of spilling the beans) you take single people that understand the power of the web to connect people + great technology + a quality global brand that doesn't take itself too seriously + competitive pricing = success (I wonder if that needs copyrighting?).

Over the course of the week people in the office have heard me preaching about one of my favourite non-fiction books, 'The Cluetrain Manifesto'. I went back and read part of the book again and would strongly encourage anyone even vaguely interested in the future of the web to read it (download it for free at www.cluetrain.com). Its a sort of thesis of the future of the web and 'the end of business of usual' but most importantly it's very well written and funny. Here's some of the thinking;

• Markets are conversations.
• Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
• The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
• In both internetworked markets and among intranetworked employees, people are speaking to each other in a powerful new way.
• These networked conversations are enabling powerful new forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to emerge.
• As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally.
• There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.

Much of the philosophy (and I think that's what it is) of the book is already inherent in the business model of Match.com, that's why I took the role. The question is how much more we need to do?