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Dating Article Archives
September 12, 2002
Online Dating Site's New Twist: Offline Partying, for $25
Fee
By NOAH SHACTMAN
The idea behind online personals is that you can
quickly sift a list of potential mates to find people who
might tickle your interest. It is more efficient than random
meetings in a bar, and no one is asking, "Come here often?"
So it may seem strange that the leading online
personals company,
Match.com, has started a new $25-a-month subscription
service — to meet random people in bars.
The service, MatchLive, began in July in New
York and is now making its debut in San Francisco. Already,
date seekers by the hundreds are attending the icebreakers.
Some events are ordinary happy hours, where MatchLive members
pay $5 for admission to a local pub while outsiders must part
with $20. Others involve an activity: sushi-making classes at
$45 each, $35 to go bowling, $28 for a scavenger hunt through
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in search of nude paintings.
The appeal of the events, said Chris Terrill, a
MatchLive spokesman, is that everyone there is looking for
liaisons — which may not be the case at the corner bar. Some
events are restricted to certain age groups — under 35, say,
or over 50 — to maximize potential matches. Most important,
MatchLive staff members also try to maintain a balance between
men and women.
"The dynamic at these events feels the same as
approaching a woman at a bar," said Erik White, a 36-year-old
environmental engineer who has attended a half-dozen of the
MatchLive mixers. "But at least the demographics are right."
Source: New York Times
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