The Blog

If you’re reading this on the blog itself, it has probably already become clear to you that things are a little different around here.

Have you seen the new homepage yet? It’s pretty funky, huh?

But much like the Ignighter team itself, the new site is more than just a pretty face. While the new design is pretty hot, the new functionality that accompanies it scorching.

1. One significant change to Ignighter’s functionality is the ability to “become a groupie” of other groups that interest you. Basically this means that you and your group can follow the status updates of other hotties in your city. So if they’re uploading more photos or talking about their weekend plans, the groupie feature helps give you and your friends insight into what’s happening with the people who tickle your fancy.

2. Another big change is Ignighter’s new Matching Engine. Here at Ignighter we’ve developed the world’s first and best group-to-group matching engine. Using cutting edge, in-house technology, we’ve figured out a way to study your group’s profile and match you up with another group based on percentage of compatibility. It’s pretty cool stuff and it keeps getting better.

3. The final significant change that we made to the new Ignighter is the introduction of the Ignighter Magazine. In addition to being the go-to group dating hub on the Internet, it’s also our goal to be a source of fun, entertaining, thought-provoking content surrounding the world of dating, relationships, sex, and other fun stuff. Each day we’ll feature an original article by one of Ignighter’s professional writers.

It also must be pointed out that we owe a great deal of thanks to Slice of Lime for their awesome design and usability work.

Right now we’re begging for your feedback. So if you haven’t signed up for the site yet (it’s free so what is there to lose?!) please do so and let us know how we can improve it. The Ignighter team has been working around the clock to make a really cool product. So please get on there, try it out, and tell us how we can make it even cooler.

April 14th, 2009 Posted by Adam | Design, Ignighter Update, The New Ignighter |

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 |

Our friend Bambi Francisco of Vator.tv sat down with Richard Jalichandra, CEO of Technorati, and Ezra Roizen to talk about Ignighter. They show a clip from our San Francisco TechStars presentation (we’re forever grateful to Jason Mendelson, our friend and mentor, for being such a good sport) and then have a discussion about Ignighter that includes the question “Will group dating appeal to those over 30?”.

What are your thoughts on the topic?

March 11th, 2009 Posted by Adam | Blogs, Presentations, Press, group activities, group dating, techstars |

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 |