Niche dating sites for Geeks + Dating-related panels at SxSW

Keyboard romance, a new fragrance by...

I just came across an ad for Geek 2 Geek, a dating site for... geeks!

It reminded me of a site back in the days. Can anyone remember which one, wasn't it part of CNET or some equivalent?

Anyway, this definitely picked my curiosity and - while looking for the answer - I decided to research the space and find out which other sites are attempting to cater to the romantic needs of fellow geeks and nerds out there.

Here is a sample: 

• Sweet on Geeks and their cool tagline: A Space Where Gray Matters
• Cupidtino - dedicated to the Apple/Mac lovers out there.
• Nerd Passions - run by Passions Network a cousin of Gaming Passions.
• Meet a Geek - made in Europe
• GamerDating - made for gamers by gamers

(Please note these are currently web-based only. So feel free to send me links for mobile and Facebook apps as well as International sites)

South by SouthWest: Where are the experts

Unfortunately, for those will also be in Austin this week for SxSW and were hoping to learn a thing or two about this fascinating industry, it appears there are only a couple of related panels:

• Online Dating 2.0: All Mobile, All Location-Based (on March 13) featuring MeetMoi and Grindr's respective founders: Andrew Weinreich and Joel Simkhai
• Paying with Data: How Free Services Aren't Free (on March 13) featuring OKCupid's co-founder/CEO Sam Yagan (quick reminder: OKCupid was acquired by Match.com last month for 50 million dollars)
• and for singles, parents & consumer journalists: Naked Dating: Finding Love in 140 Characters or Less (on March 14).

 (Again, comments & emails are welcome, should you know of any other panels/events worth mentioning.) 

Geek matchmaking, a new eldorado?

Coming back to our main topic, anyone will agree that nerds and geeks are now part of the pop culture. Thanks to the democratization of Internet and mobile devices and of course the portrayal of nerdy heroes stamped by Hollywood, it has never been so cool to be a nerd.

Content publishers attracting a high volume audience of geeks and nerds may soon decide to seize the day and release their own branded dating platform following the footsteps of more traditional players.

Indeed, both The Guardian's soulmates.com and Condé Nast's trulymadlydating.com have jumped on the opportunity by partnering with The Dating Lab, a white-label company which makes it easy for any substantially important online community site to play at the dating table...

This potential "match made in heaven" for a Geek.com or IGN could very well help them also get a piece of the pie.

Indeed, TechCrunch and more recently the New York Times have reported on the growthof niche dating sites... But I will leave it up to Business Insider to show us the actual market potential with a lovely chart that would resemble to this one. By the way, how about a customized idateon.TechCrunch.com? ;-P

Reminiscences

To conclude this piece, let me share with you some retro geeky bonus content:

as well as a Craigslist homage:
Why Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It...

This post is dedicated to my #NYTM single friends.

Media Prediction 2011: Who is Admantx and why will Google buy it?

Admantx was born only 6 weeks ago during the last Semantic Web Summit, but here is why it really is a game changer for advertisers and publishers alike.

But first, let us look at the industry problem it aims to solve. For those who are not familiar with the current contextual advertising space, here is an example of a infamous campaign for a cruise which was matched with the wrong content, in this case a ferry crash. 

 What you want to avoid in contextual advertising...

So how does a company such as Admantx propose to address this issue?

Well, the secret sauce lies into what we call Semantic Web and Linked Data. And it is pretty easy for Admantx since it is actually a spin-off of Expert System, a 15-year old Semantic Intelligence provider.

Semantic technology can help marketers derive meaning, emotions and motivations from the content & user behaviors. In this particular case, webpages would be semantically processed & tagged using methods similar to human comprehension:

• in order to display relevant ads and avoid a ferry-crash-type ad mismatch
• and of course, to enhance the content relevancy and the overall media consumption experience. 

This goes beyond the sentiment analysis tools that have been implemented over the past few years.

Don't get me wrong, the semantic advertising space is not new. Five years ago, Ad Pepper Media had bought Crystal Semantics. But 2011 will definitely bring us some exciting news, such as acquisitions made by publishers and media groups in need of rapidly embracing the Web 3.0 wave... Stay tuned :) 

Web Designers vs. Web Developers

Aviary now available for free

This amazing online image and photo editing suite has been made available for free this past week.

If you are not familiar with it, try to put 'www.aviary.com/' in front of any website URL. You may also click on this example: http://www.aviary.com/www.sandira.com to enjoy an effortless screen-capture ready for you to play with.

Ecolada is hiring a smart Product Manager

Ecolada
is hiring a smart Product Manager

We are seeking a smart Technical Product Manager to help get our product to the next level.
Ecolada is a comparison shopping website with a twist about to be unleashed in the coming weeks.
This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate and hard working professional to play a pivotal role in a dynamic environment.
The Technical Product Manager reports to the Managing Director. The position is based in New York, NY.

Responsibilities include:

• Define and champion product features and requirements.
• Develop, implement, manage and continuously improve Ecolada's website to ensure traffic goals are met.
• Manage internal and external resources to meet business and technical requirements.
• Collaborate with marketing to support existing and create new traffic driving initiatives.
• Analyzing and incorporating customer/market requirements.
• Recommend new products and product enhancements.

Skills/Qualifications:

• 2+ years experience in successful consumer-facing web product management.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in order to lead and work proactively with a variety of cross-functional teams.
• Exceptional project management skills; well-organized, detail-oriented, ability to set priorities, multi-task and stay on top of deliverables.
• Experience working closely with developers and other outsourced technical teams.
• Ability to balance technical and business issues.
• Fast learner with a passion for web 2.0 and mobile trends.
• Strong technology background (CS or Engineering).
• Understanding of search engines and information classification (categories, tags).
• Familiarity with affiliate platforms, SEO and PPC would be a plus.
• Familiarity with internet technologies such as DHTML, Flash, AJAX including back-end languages, and databases (SQL Server preferably).
• Experience with large-scale database applications preferable.
• Must be a proactive, self-starter.
• Good energy.
• Experience and ability to thrive in small, dynamic, and entrepreneurial environments.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in engineering or a related discipline.

If you fit the above profile, have great energy, breath/live the web, believe anything is possible, and want to be part of our exciting company, please send your resume/portfolio to: jobs[-at-]ecolada.com