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

Sorry, we’ve been busy debating names again and stuffing our faces, so not much time to write. But, nothing like lifting some (mostly) pre-written copy for a blog post:

Why choose Sparkker over conventional online dating?

1. It’s more natural and social
   Human beings, in the real, offline world, meet new people with and through their groups of friends.
2. It’s safer
   Safety in numbers, people!
3. Avoids the stigma of conventional online dating
   Which sounds desperate? “I’m meeting some new people with my friends” or “I’m going on an internet-arranged blind date with some stranger named Pat. Did I mention I met Pat on the Internet.”
4. More options among a group
   Not hitting it off with this guy or girl? Move on to the next one, you have a whole group to choose from.
5. Your friends help you make better decisions
   (When they’re sober.)
6. The group setting helps weed out the loners and boners
   People without friends can’t do much with a group dating service; liars will get called on their lies by their friends.
7. If it’s a total bust, at least you’re still out with your friends
   No need to frantically call your friends after a dud date–they’re already there!
8. It’s something new
   Seriously, Sparkker is a revolution in nightlife!
9. It’s more fun
   It’s simply more fun!

Who should use it?

• Single people looking to meet new people
• Taken people who want to hang out with their friends and help them meet new people
• Friendly, social people of all sorts and interests

Peter (& Adam & Dan)

It may not surprise those of you whom we consulted again and again on our name a few weeks back, but, damn, we’re hung up on a single word again. We’re obsessive about (or slow with) the words we choose.

One of the most obsessive/slowest debates we’ve had since the start is whether or not to use the word “dating”, commonly called “the D word” around Sparkker office. (“Office” is also up for debate.) We fear directly using this D word, the word that shall not be named; it’s like our Voldemort or our Yahweh.

It’d suck if the bogey man swooped in and killed us, but it’d really suck if, by using the D word, we started getting associated with match.com or e-harmony. Dating is kinda lame; few people we know really want to do it. Internet dating–i.e. using the internet to set up blind dates for you–is really lame.

Now, before you think we’re judgemental, note that we have lots of friends who met their SOs (or just got play) via conventional dating sites, and are nothing but happy for them. We’re judging the activity, not the people who do it. And before Sparkker, there wasn’t any better way for them to meet new people.

Anyhow, getting back to our bogey word…. So, we think the D word is lame; we think you think the D word is lame; and we don’t really want to be associated with the current category of D services. further, what we’re doing doesn’t really feel like D_____. So, debate over, don’t use the D word.

Except that in trying to describe what Sparkker is, if we simply say “Group D____”, 7 out of 10 people immediately get it. The light bulb goes on. There’s no other 2-word description that gets the point across pretty well. Every other way we try to describe Sparkker ends up a little clunky, the light bulb flickering a bit at best.

So, there’s our conundrum. We should do some proper research on this some day, but for now, we’ll just keep bugging the people we know for their perceptions of the D word. If you leave a comment, we guarantee it will get read, probably about 14 times.

Peter
Principal (A word you won’t see us use again)

PS – Wait a second, what about the other 3 out of 10– what do they think Group D_____ means? 2 out of 10 say “orgy”, thinking they’re being funny. (Many of our friends made this joke. We’re judging the joke, not the people who made the joke.) 1 out of 10 says–we think seriously–”oh, it’s for swingers.”

Alums hope to see online sparks fly with Facebook application (Nov 16, 2007)

Internet connections could lead to real-life couples

Sam Kirkland

Online dating is about to get easier, more practical and more realistic, thanks to two NU alums.

This week, Adam Sachs, Communication ‘05 and Dan Osit, Communication’04, launched Sparkker, an application on the popular social networking Web site Facebook.

The application allows users to form groups with their friends, plan events with other groups and ultimately interact with potential dating partners in real-world settings.

“In a lofty sense, our goal is to change the way people date and meet new people online,” Sachs said.

Sachs described Sparkker – the name refers to the spark created when two people meet – as “a hybrid between social networking and online dating.”

Once Facebook users add the application to their profiles, they can create groups for their friends to join or join other existing groups. Group leaders, called “ambassadors,” set the group’s location, sexual orientation and description. They also specify what qualities group members are looking for in other people.

From there, ambassadors search for other area groups and plan real-life events and meet-ups.

The idea, Sachs said, is to do what other online dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony.com do not: simulate the group setting where people really meet one another.

“Sparkker is about getting out and getting into the real world,” Sachs said. “It is very location-based.”

A launch party will take place in New York in the next few weeks, and Sachs and Osit said they hope to one day hold bimonthly mixers in locations around the world, including Chicago.

The idea for the application came from what the developers were experiencing after moving to New York following graduation, Sachs said.

The friends – who met during Fall Quarter of Sachs’s freshman year – found themselves socializing with the same people week after week and never meeting anyone new.

Sparkker’s location on Facebook essentially means free advertising to millions of users, Sachs said.

“We want to start as a Facebook application because it’s an easy and quick way to reach 50 million people instantly,” Osit said.

Osit said Sparkker could one day expand into a Web site of its own, but for now it’s relying on word of mouth to spread interest.

“Facebook in general is very viral,” Sachs said. “You tell somebody and they tell somebody. Information travels very quickly.”

Because Sachs and Osit have little experience in designing and maintaining Web content, they brought Peter Kamali, a co-founder of Meetup.com, on board as Sparkker’s chief technical officer.

“Through a friend of a friend, we had him as an adviser,” Sachs said. “He kind of fell in love with our idea.”

Sparkker is different from typical online dating Web sites because most of the interaction will take place away from the computer screen, Sachs said.

“We want to emphasize people meeting in real life,” he said.

But some NU students said they are wary of online dating in any form.

Communication sophomore Eric Choi said he used Facebook to meet eventual friends before coming to NU based on their listed interests, but he wasn’t a fan of the recent flood of applications on the Web site.

“There’s a lot of random stuff,” Choi said. “I really don’t bother with them because they’re pointless. (Sparkker) would be useful for a particular demographic, but not for me.”

Kristen Sun said she has never entered the online dating scene but said that might change if Sparkker is successful.

“It sounds interesting,” the SESP freshman said. “I might try it out.”

Reach Sam Kirkland at samkirkland@u.northwestern.edu.

We were impressed by this list of “15 Startup Commandments” from the Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs Group:

1. Your idea isn’t new. Pick an idea; at least 50 other people have thought of it. Get over your stunning brilliance and realize that execution matters more.

2. Stealth startups suck. You’re not working on the Manhattan Project, Einstein. Get something out as quickly as possible and promote the hell out of it.

3. If you don’t have scaling problems, you’re not growing fast enough.

4. If you’re successful, people will try to take advantage of you. Hope that you’re in that position, and hope that you’re smart enough to not fall for it.

5. People will tell you they know more than you do. If that’s really the case, you shouldn’t be doing your startup.

6. Your competition will inflate their numbers. Take any startup traffic number and slash it in half. At least.

7. Perfection is the enemy of good enough. Leonardo could paint the Mona Lisa only once. You, Bob Ross, can push a bug release every 5 minutes because you were at least smart enough to do a web app.

8. The size of your startup is not a reflection of your manhood. More employees does not make you more of a man (or woman as the case may be).

9. You don’t need business development people. If you’re successful, companies will come to you. The deals will still be distractions and not worth doing, but at least you’re not spending any effort trying to get them.

10. You have to be wrong in the head to start a company. But we have all the fun.

11. Starting a company will teach you what it’s like to be a manic depressive. They, at least, can take medication.

12. Your startup isn’t succeeding? You have two options: go home with your tail between your legs or do something about it. What’s it going to be?

13. If you don’t pay attention to your competition, they will turn out to be geniuses and will crush you. If you do pay attention to them, they will turn out to be idiots and you will have wasted your time. Which would you prefer?

14. Startups are not a democracy. Want a democracy? Go run for class president, Bueller.

15. You’re doing a web app, right? This isn’t the 1980s. Your crummy, half-assed web app will still be more successful than your competitor’s most polished software application.

Ok, so maybe a couple of the points are a little goofy, but in general it fits our M.O., especially 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9. We’re just 3 people (2 of whom are n00bz!) without any funding (yet!), trying to realize this fine idea that probably countless other people have had.

In the spirit of #2 and #7, we’re trying hard to get Sparkker out there about a week from now. It may not be the most polished web app ever written; every pixel may not line up perfectly; and you may get an occasional error message (hope not.) But, it should work and should help people meet people better. And, we hope to keep learning from whoever’s using it to keep improving it.

We could have taken the time to raise the big bucks, to hire a big team, to polish all the rough edges. But, then you wouldn’t have Sparkker for a few more months. (Though you probably would have some other similar service before then.) And then we wouldn’t be able to learn and improve on it for a couple more months, etc.

We hope you’ll appreciate our trying to get it out sooner rather than later, and we hope you’ll let us know if something doesn’t feel quite right!

Peter
Chief Nephologist & Code Monkey

Before we get into what Sparkker will actually do and what what we’re doing to get it there, a little more obsessing about the name….

Matt M. said to me, “I actually prefer Sparkker with the extra k.” I agree! (And so does Dan. Adam seems not so sure– he’s still hung up on Ignighter and ElMixer.)

That extra K gives Sparkker an extra pow, an extra kick. (You’ll note that “kick” already has two Ks.) That extra K makes it stand out more than Sparker with one K ever could. Take a good look at one-K Sparker. It looks kinda sad and flavorless; it’s missing something.  Our extra K gives us an edge.

I predicted that Sparkker would start a trend of cheap name knock-offs with extra Ks, as Flickr did by dropping an E. Well, I checked, expecting lots of available domains with extra Ks: parkker.com – taken; bookker.com – taken; markker.com – taken; fuckker.com – taken. Even crackker.com is taken. So maybe *we* are the cheap knock-offs, but I still prefer that extra K.

A couple people have suggested that some day, if we’ve made it, we can buy the one-K sparker.com domain. (It’s currently owned by one S. Parker Hardware of Englewood, NJ.) I’d rather spend the money on a party–to celebrate that second, orange K–or on months of burritos.

Peter