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At first we thought it was an alarming trend; many female profiles on Ignighter describe the group of friends as “The Sex and the City Girls”. The profile anoints each member of the group as either a “Carrie”, “Charlotte”, “Miranda”, or “Samantha”.

Seeing this commonality play out across female Ignighter groups from all corners of the U.S., we realized that if we didn’t understand this crucial feminine text, we would never have a good grasp on the female perspective of sex and relationships.

In an effort to fill this void in our relationship awareness, we started a Sex and the City Book (DVD) Club and invited a few of our buddies to join us.

NBC heard about it and stopped by Dan’s Upper West Side apartment to talk to us.

March 16th, 2009 Posted by Adam | About Ignighter, Ignighter Guys, Press, Sex and the City, meet new people |

She’s already been here for a couple weeks, but her employment really wasn’t official until her A/S/L Check went up on the Ignighter blog.

It is our pleasure to introduce the lovely and talented Ayca Aksu, Ignighter’s newest Developer and Interaction Designer.

Although we’re still a young company, one aspect of company culture that we take very seriously is the nickname. We have a strict hiring policy at Ignighter: We only hire geniuses. And as a result, all of our nicknames include a reference to our genius…um…osity.

When we first hired Nicky the combination of his youth and brilliance was so rare that he was quickly labeled Boy Genius . We called him B.G. for short until two syllables became one too many and he evolved into “Beege”. As Beege’s life-mentor, I naturally became “Meege” (Man Genius). Dan, being no slouch in the genius department, became “No Sleege” while Kevin became “Keege” (Kevin Genius) and Molly, in a gesture to her heritage, became “Heege” (Hebrew Genius).

It must be noted that Kevin wasn’t always Keege. Originally his nickname was based on the fact that he was a Real Genius, however it didn’t take long until we started to feel alarmingly similar to Kelly Ripa every time we wanted to acknowledge him. Thus he became simply Keege.

It may be hard to believe, but anyone who has spent a little time at Ignighter HQ knows that this is really the way it is. We actually call each other by these nicknames at all times. It’s not to be funny, but rather it’s a celebration of our genius…um…ness. We’re a lot like Apple’s Genius bar, just without the male ponytails.

Ignighter: So with that overlong introduction in mind, Ayca (pronounced  eye-cha), what would you like your Ignighter genius nickname to be?

Ayca: Umm… How about Aych (eye-ch)?

Ignighter: So Aycheege?

Ayca: No, just Aych works for me.

Ignighter: After all that? Just Aych?

Ayca: After all what? I’m sorry, I haven’t been paying attention. The truth is, you’re kinda boring.

Ignighter: So I’ve heard. Well Aych, let’s get down to business.

Ayca: ‘Bout time.

Ignighter: Hmmph. Where are you from Aycheege?

Ayca: I was born in Rize. It is a small town by the Black Sea, in northeast Turkey.

Ignighter: Do you have siblings?

Ayca: I have a 27-year-old sister and a 20-year-old brother. My sister has the most awesome job. She is the third officer on a commercial ship, soon to be the second. My brother goes to college. His major is mining engineering.

Ignighter: Your brother is a major minor? You don’t hear that too often.

Ayca: Are you doing more of your comedy?

Ignighter: Sort of. Pressing on. What do you like to do in your free time?

Ayca:  I used to do scuba diving when I was in Turkey. I have more than 50 dives up to 150 feet. I am planning to go to Mexico for scuba diving next summer. I also love sculptures. I have been taking sculpture classes where we learn about formalizing our ideas. One of my favorite places in NYC is the Moma, I love going there once in a while. I also love reading science fiction, fantasy, and comic books.

Ignighter: We’re really excited to have you on the Ignighter team. What is your primary goal at Ignighter?

Ayca: As a part of the Ignighter team, I very much look forward to seeing Ignighter become a successful product not just in terms of page views or revenue but also in terms of the whole user experience.

Ignighter: OK if you’re feling up to it, we’ll get to the closing questions now.

Ayca: Yeah, just hurry it up Sachs.

Ignighter: Alright. What is your favorite word?

Ayca: Penultimate.

Ignighter: Least favorite word?

Ayca: Abysmal. It reminds me of the GRE.

Ignighter: And the penulatime question, favorite smell?

Ayca: Lavender. I also like the smell of rain, especially on a dry summer night (but maybe that’s too romantic. I am totally not romantic). Plus I have a soft spot for Gio, men’s perfume, it smells soooo good.

Ignighter: And now the final question to this abysmal interview, what historical figure would you most like to go on a date with?

Ayca: I would like to go on a date with Picasso because he is a wonderful artist.

Ignighter: Aych it’s really been a pleasure. You’ve been an awesome addition to our genius team here and we know you’re going to make an awesome contribution to the success of the company.

Ayca: Are you still talking? I’m busy reading Jezebel.

March 3rd, 2009 Posted by Adam | About Ignighter, Blogs, Ignighter Guys, Our Office, Startups, a/s/l check, meet new people |

This Thursday we’re hosting our Second Annual Valentine’s Day Party. Last year’s party was a blast and this year is on track to be even better. We have a professional photographer, a videographer, and most importantly a Free Open Bar!

Everybody is invited to attend, but you MUST RSVP in order to get into the event.

Go to http://ignighter.com/vday to RSVP.

February 9th, 2009 Posted by Adam | About Ignighter, Large Events, Online dating, Parties, Startups, Valentine's Day, meet new people |

The following is a guest post by Molly Bush, the charming young lady who helped Ignighter out over the summer by catalyzing our community and adding a much needed female voice to the group. She’s currently looking for a job which means her own irreverent blog is now password protected. Molly can’t go too long without sharing her commentary so we decided to have her write a guest post for us. The following is a reaction to this article on the popular academic website, ParisHiltonWatch, which alleges that Paris Hilton and George Clooney have been group dating:

I love internet sleuthing. Which is absolutely normal and not creepy. I also love celebrities and I love stalking them. But again, not like a creepy Paula Abdul obsessed fan. More like an internet socialite. It’s endearing, I swear. When I came across an article about Paris Hilton possibly dating George Clooney (and by dating, I mean group dating) I knew exactly where to find them!!! The only website I know about for group dating… and now for celebrity sleuthing too? Seemed to good to be true.

I signed onto Ignighter.com to see if they had profiles set up.  Sadly for them they aren’t members yet. I really think they might want to consider it, though, for great group date ideas, or in case they want to group date with someone other than their managers… or if maybe George Clooney wants to date me instead.  If for some strange reason he doesn’t want to date a stalker he could try some of the less stalkerish friends in my group on for size.

I like group dating for many reasons, mostly that it seems like less terrible and less alcoholic behavior to get tipsy (read: dance on tables) on a group date rather than on a regular old skool, awkward date. Another reason I love group dating is that it makes me look less loserish (read: unemployed). Example: If a potential suitor asks me what I do for a living and I respond “nothing”, a friend is most likely going to jump in with something that’s true like “yeah, but she is really funny” or “yeah but she has really marketable web research skills, especially in the celebrity research socialite department” or “yeah, but she is really tan and pretty!” That always helps. But weird if I said it about myself all by myself on a not-so-group date.

But, celebrities seem to be able to drink as much as they like. And they don’t even have to worry about their bar tabs. If they went to Catacombs for example, they’d be able to afford many, many $2 vodka sodas. A celebrity would never have to worry about coming off as a loser (like I do) they are celebrities after all! But I am all in for celebrities group dating. It feels like I am finally where I belong, thanks to group dating; on the same dating-playing field as Paris Hilton. Maybe one day we’d even be group dating together!!! And because we were together, group dating, I’d be there (when we both drank too much) to make sure she was wearing underwear. I guess celebrities must need good friends and group dates to help them out as well.

January 5th, 2009 Posted by Adam | Guest Post, group activities, group dating, ignighter, meet new people |