But I Don’t Wanna be a Pirate
The wonderfully funny, All-American Joe Clabby brought to my attention recently a scene from Seinfeld in which George is talking about a date he has planned.
George: Well I think I’m better off going one-on-one.
Jerry: I don’t know why you want to play man-to-man when you could play a zone.
George is afraid that if he takes his new lady-friend out on a group date with Jerry and Elaine, she’ll see Jerry as the funny one in the group and leave George.
Elaine: He thinks that if a woman sees a guy put on a better show, she’ll walk out on his show, go see the other show.
That brings us to point six in our list of Why Ignighter Rules and Conventional Online Dating Blows: “The Group Setting Helps Weed out the Loners and Boners.” When you’re on a group date, your friends keep you honest. If you are one-on-one with a stranger you met over the internet (a la match.com date) you can misrepresent yourself so that you become exactly what you think your target audience (your date) is looking for.
After charming the attractive attorney earlier in the episode, George is nervous that the group setting will reveal his true identity.
George: You see, this is what I do with women. I start out too strong, now I have to become real, that’s when it all falls apart. What good is real? They don’t want real, they want funny.
In this analogy, George represents just the boners we’re talking about; people who adopt a fake persona to impress their dates. The group setting doesn’t allow for this misrepresentation. It forces people to be themselves because that’s how we naturally act when we’re with our friends.
George is better off on Match or JDate where they play man-to-man and there’s nobody around to call you out when you’re lying. Jerry understands that it’s much more natural to play zone, he’d use Ignighter.
And a quick note on weeding out the loners. Because you can’t start an Ignighter group alone, antisocial loners simply can’t use it. We’re not trying to discriminate, I promise. We are just trying to cultivate a fun, social atmosphere. People who have absolutely no friends to bring along would probably have more fun on a Second Life group date anyway.
Adam
We’re Big in Japan, Part 2
A while back we wrote about our strange appearance on Japanese Blog Nice Meets (this was back in our Sparkker days). Well it turns out that group dating is kind of a big deal over in Japan and was even before they got wind of Ignighter. They’ve yet to find a suitable web application for facilitating this cultural phenomenon though, so hopefully Ignighter can fill the void. The following is a description of what the Japanese call “Gokon” or “Compa” (Compa comes from the English word, “companion”).
Basically a man and woman plan what usually starts as a dinner and each invite 3 or 4 of their friends. This is the groundwork for the group date and doesn’t sound too dissimilar from Ignighter.
However there are many rules inherent to the Compa which of course do not exist in the free-spirited world of Ignighter:
1. The guys must arrive early and the ladies are expected to arrive late.
2. Daters aren’t allowed to sit next to their friends so they alternate boy, girl, boy, girl.
3. A toast, or Kanpai, is made and they all say “L’Chaim”.
4. They go around the table and introduce themselves, talking about their jobs, hobbies, and favorite house-mates on Oxygen Network’s Bad Girls Club.
5. They start drinking. A lot. Yumm….. Sake Bombs….
Because of the rigid social mores existing in Japan, alcohol plays a very important role in loosening up the Compadres (please note: I don’t think they really call themselves this). Compadres have even been known to exaggerate how drunk they really are (speaking of acting drunk, this Kid Nation clip is a must watch!) just for an excuse to act slightly more uninhibited.
For a firsthand account of a Compa, check out this blog:
Adam
Ignighter Leads Last Night’s NY Tech Meetup!
By “leads”, I merely mean we went first.
Hats off to Adam for doing a great run through the app, a tough thing to do in the mere 5 minutes allowed–4 minutes after my intro. (As viewers, we do greatly appreciate the 5 minute cap- keeps things moving along.) The 120ft video wall at IAC is a cool backdrop, though the trek would be even more welcome in summer months.
Catch a video of our demo here. (the audio’s a little echoey, but you should be able to hear us fine.)
Some other coverageof the Meetup:
- http://www.centernetworks.com/ny-tech-meetup-december-2007-recap
a nice overview of the whole tech meetup process, and links to videos of all presentations - http://newtech.meetup.com/1/calendar/6691558/ (some attendee comments)
- http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/12/ny-tech-meetup-the-meta-meetup.html
- http://sanford.blogspot.com/2007/12/dec-2007-new-york-tech-meetup.html
- http://www.michaelgalpert.com/2007/12/december-ny-new-tech-meetup-review.html
Nice photos, too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsgalpert/2088487176/
Also, Scott presented a project that’s dear to my heart: http://www.meetupalliance.com/
(Disclaimer: As a co-founder, I am a stockholder in Meetup.) Alliance is a platform-agnostic spin-off of Meetup that connects local groups from Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, Meetup, Facebook, and anywhere else. It’s the missing link between all these disparate groups, and could really help them unite into powerful multi-chapter organizations. Elections in ‘08 should make for some interesting use.
Peter
It Used to be a Watermelon, Now it’s more like a Summer Squash
Tomorrow (Tuesday December 4th) Ignighter will be presenting at the NY Tech Meetup. This will be the first public demonstration of Ignighter and therefore the first time that any of us will have had tomatoes thrown at our heads.
But seriously folks we’re pretty excited about the opportunity to present to about 500 of our fellow NY Tech nerds and web entrepreneurs. The NY Tech Meetup is a great place for us to premiere our app. And we couldn’t ask for a cooler venue than the IAC building and the world’s largest HD video wall.
Check out the mention in Silicon Alley Insider, one of the top NY Tech/Digital blogs. I’d invite all of our faithful blog readers to come and support us, but unfortunately I’m pretty sure the event is full. If you’d like, you could show up anyway, and line up on the West Side Highway like you’re waiting for Spice Girls tickets.
While preparing for the demo we did come across some recaps and anonymous commentors of previous NY Tech Meetup demos. They are unkind to say the least. One that scared me the most said something along the lines of, “maybe we would’ve enjoyed the demo a little more if the presenter wasn’t blocking the screen with his huge head”. If you know me (or rather if you’ve seen me), you can probably imagine that one stung more than others. In fact, I’ve spent the day chewing celery and practicing the ancient Peruvian tradition of Cranial Binding in an attempt to tone up and slim down my big noggin.
The one good thing about the negative comments is that unlike hecklers at a comedy show, Tech hecklers – Techlers – wait until they’re home and in the safe, warm, anonymous confines afforded by the top bunk of their Batman and Robin bed.
We’ll be sure to let you all know how it goes…
On another note, if you have a couple minutes please take our Online Dating Survey, it’s quick and completely anonymous. Thank You!
Adam
Chief Ignighter Friend Maker
