OPW - Jan 20 - iDate is next week. So book your tix and see you there. Here's my top picks from the iDate agenda.
Zoosk CEO Kelly Steckelberg - Kelly is speaking about opportunities in the dating business. Zoosk took it upon themselves to take on the incumbents in the industry and has done an amazing job over the years. Kelly has been at Zoosk since 2011 and has held the CFO, COO and CEO positions. What's next for Zoosk, and where's the growth? This is a must-attend.
Spark Networks CEO Michael Egan - Its been a big year for Spark. Michael has been at the helm for a year now. I'll interview him. I'm focused on what happened in 2015, and what happens next for Spark.
Pure CEO Roman Sidorenko - Pure app is #2 to Tinder in the USA in the current iTunes rankings. Roman is in a short CEO therapy session. How? What? Where did he come from? Find out, and advise him.
Revolution Force's Sean Christian - ...spent 10 years at Friendfinder and knows a thing or two about effective use of the affiliate channel. He's talking about dating affiliate strategy.
Psychologists Dr Brenner and Dr Borg - Will advise on how to add value to your dating site with expert guidance. People need guidance, and I'm convinced we're not providing enough. Lets see what they have to say. A fresh perspective.
Verizon's Tushar Chaudhary - Tushar heads an innovation center at Verizon and will talk about dating's migration to mobile. Should be insightful.
Book your tix for the iDate Awards gala.
...and that's just day 1! Here's my top picks for day 2.
Venntro (White Label Dating) CEO Ross Williams - Is talking about how to grow your dating site without advertising. A hot topic, and Ross is in a unique position to observe success formulas!
Diverse (Mixi.com) President Hiroshi Tsumoto - Look to the future. Look to Japan for inspiration. The Japanese market is fascinating, and Mixi is the dating site leader. But it's not a dating site! It's a social network! Come and get some insight on how this site and app works and what Diverse is working on.
Lunch Actually Founder Violet Lim - I've known Violet Lim and her husband for 9 years now. She's one of our great innovative thinkers, and her company is expanding across Asia. Again, look to Asia for inspiration. Violet is the best of the best!
FTC's Steve Baker - Make sure you're on the right side of the law. Steve Baker is spelling out some best practices.
SNAP Interactive CEO Alex Harrington - Alex has been at SNAP two years now, and ran Meetmoi for 4 years prior to that. SNAP is public. I'm interviewing him about his thoughts on the public market. What's next and where's the opportunity?
Dating Factory VP Jenny Gonzalez - Is overviewing the Latin American market. This is a hot market, and is monetizing nicely now. Get some insight on the opportunity there.
Speed Dating Luminaries Dan Gudema and Tom Jaffee - Have been banging out speed dating events for over 10 years now with predating.com and 8minutedating.com. Events are very challenging, and they've been through the wringers. Get insight on how to get events right.
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Full Disclosure: I worked for FriendFinder in 2003. Pure and Dating Factory are current Courtland Brooks clients. White Label Dating is a former long term client. I was VP at Cupid in 2004 when we acquired Predating.com.
Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks
I'm sorry but why is Kelly Steckelberg speaking at iDate? She is at the controls of Zoosk and they have laid off 15% of their workforce and their market share has tanked. This company is in the gutter and sinking further.
I would NOT be wanting to hear anything this CEO has to say about online dating. In fact, if I was at iDate and she was speaking, I would do the exact opposite of what she says.
Sorry Mark but I disagree with your comment about her doing an amazing job. She has pretty much sunk the company.
Posted by: David | Jan 22, 2016 at 11:16 AM
I disagree, as usual, David. Take a look around. The industry is going through a major media shift. She's grappling with this shift, and taking the reigns of an industry leading company. Look at the public companies. The industry is reinventing itself. She's exactly the person we wanted on the keynote stand.
The challenges she faces are the challenges we all face. I want to hear what her vision of the future is. Why don't you show up and see for yourself? Experience the discussions in the evenings. Its easy to pooh pooh the schedule. But you won't learn much sitting at home. Show up. Participate. We want you there.
Posted by: Mark Brooks | Jan 22, 2016 at 04:09 PM
I don't think Evans can afford airfare to Florida from the tiny town he lives in Vermont. Industry insiders refer to David Evans as 'Waldorf from The Muppet Show' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14njUwJUg1I
Posted by: Stallar | Jan 22, 2016 at 06:19 PM
Guys, sorry to say this is not David Evans. Sounds like you wanted it to be though. Sorry to disappoint.
Mark, I don't see the market going through a media shift. I see companies like Zoosk not keeping up because they lack the creativeness and technological know how to take on Tinder. Since 2013 Zoosk's market share has been dropping. It's not a media shift, it's a "Tinder is beating us" shift.
She has had about 5 years to turn the company around. She has not. Everyone knew that Tinder was growing but people sat around and basically did nothing. How many years does a CEO have to make a company profitable before they are ousted?
Posted by: David | Jan 25, 2016 at 04:42 PM