This past Saturday night I had the great privilege to host a group date at the Noddinghead Brewpub in Philadelphia, PA. As some of friends & colleagues already know, I have been working as the Lead Developer for Ignighter.com for the past 6 months. Ignighter is an online ‘group dating’ service, aimed at young people who have just left college, moved to a big city, and having a tough time meeting fun new young people.
I’d always knew, since I first sat down with Dan and Adam, that group dating as a webservice had major potential. It’s already a huge phenomenon in Japan, where young people go out on ‘compa dates’. I mean, on an intellectual level, it just makes sense. Meeting people with your group of friends is safer, less awkward, and more fun than one-on-one meetings.
But, this Saturday night, I realized, on a whole new level, how much potential there is for group dating in America. The date this weekend was fun. And, I mean, F-U-N. For the two years I lived in Philadelphia, my group of buddies had a very routinized nightlife. Every weekend, it was the same bars with the same group of friends. About halfway through my group date on Saturday night, watching my friends mingle with the group of girls we’d just met, watching the smiles, the high fives, the positive body language, I realized on a whole deeper level: this website could really change the way young people meet. Along with that realization, came a few other insights about Ignighter:
It’s not about finding a life partner. It’s about improving your social life. - The group atmosphere doesn’t lend itself to much romance, but it is an opportunity to meet a whole new group of friends. Chances are, you’re going to hit it off with at least one of them
It’s easy, I mean: really easy - All I had to do was send a few messages, pick a time and a place to meet, show up, and holy cow: I just met 5 new ladies who live in my town. And shit: they’re interesting too.
No matter how you slice it, it’s a whole freakin’ lot of fun - If you have a social bone in your body, you love meeting new people.
I came away from this group date feeling energized about my job, and bullish about the future of online group dating. Perhaps even more telling, my roommate, who has been cynical about online social networking and dating, but reluctantly accompanied me on the group date, came away raving about how great of a time he had.
I’m interested in comments from readers. What elements of a night-out make it the most fun? How do you meet new people when you’re out-on-the town? Would you use a webservice that is designed to set you up with a group of young people in your area?
Hello everyone. While I already blog over at Owocki dot com, today marks my Ignighter.com/blog debut. While normally Adam keeps me chained up in the corner debugging Iginighter.com. So, when the feeling came back into my fingers after three months of coding at Techstars, I thought I’d share a group date idea with everyone.
Lasertag. It’s not just for kids anymore. What better way to show a new group of ladies or gents some fun competition , than playing a team game of laser tag against them. Or, you could just all team up and light-up a group of twelve-year olds. (see clip of Robin and Barney, from ‘How I Met Your Mother’, below).
(shameless plug) Ladies, if you’re looking for a fun group of guys to go laser tagging it, look no further than Third and Cherry.
Last night at Techstars, Ben Casnocha spoke about his experiences as an entrepreneur. Ben is easily the most impressive 20-year old you’ve ever met. At the age of 14, he was already selling software to local governments. Although young in years, he is rich in experience, and was very well-spoken and composed throughout the night.
Although Ben navigated several thoughts during his talk last night, the overarching theme that Ben emphasized was that he did not take the Textbook approach to his life. He learned by doing.
Ben used the text from an early Apple ‘Think Different’ ad as analogy for entrepreneurship, his ‘outside-the-box’ lifestyle, and his opinion that one’s life work should be measured in net impact, not in the amount of money that you make: (text below)
“Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.”
More than any other mentor at Techstars, Ben was easy to relate to because of one thing: his youth. I found myself relating to his ‘think different’ / ‘throw out the textbook’ theme. On my last days doing corporate work back on the east coast, everyone thought I was crazy to leave, although some confided to me in private they were proud of me and wish they had made bolder career moves when younger.
Turns out the best decisions aren’t the easiest, but they’re what make the bold stand out. I don’t remember learning that in school.
“So, here’s to the crazy ones… Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do.” ~ Apple / Think Different
