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A commenter asked about iDate:
David, would you recommend this conference to someone who would like to become familiar with this space or you consider it a complete waste? Can this show help in anyway to someone new or is it just sales reps trying to get business done?
- Is it worth *anything* attending?
- Are there speakers one should NOT miss?
- Are there events one must attend?Finally, if I may, what are the things YOU would have wanted to know when you got started attending your first show.
All good questions. I think if you are entering the market it’s imperative to attend. If you are an industry veteran this is the only show to network with your peers. Or in the case this year, buy or sell your company before it’s too late.
Exhibitor sessions are usually sales pitches, some better than others. The industry overview (both for dating and social networking) should be good. All the background check, chat and billing companies will be exhibiting, easier to talk to them one on one.
I wish the iDate website didn’t make it so difficult to link to speakers, what’s with the Javascript popups?
Speakers not to miss (partial list):
Susan Mernit: I’ve not heard her speak, at least someone at Y! Personals is talking.
Mike Jones: Userplane is the industry standard video/chat application. Mike knows all and everyone. You will run out of paper writing down all his insights. Yes they are a sponsor of this blog, consider my bias. After you listen to Mike you will understand why I like him and Userplane so much ( Hi Janet!).
Kate Hansen: Marketing for Social Networking and Internet Personals Websites. This is pretty important stuff, haven’t heard her speak. Will be a sales pitch but one worth listening too. What, are you going to spend your precious marketing budget on Y! Search?
Markus Frind: Markus will talk about how great PlentyofFish is and how everyone else sucks for 20 minutes. If you can stomach the bravado, he is incredibly knowledgeable about turing eyeballs into dollar signs and a lot of what he says is spot-on. Definitely one of the smartest people in the dating industry. Ask him to show you his oversized Google check.
Panel: The Social Networking & Online Dating Industry - Issues from Executives and Management. I hope this is good. If not, at least you can get buzzed for free.
Matchmakers: Room full of women with insights into the dating space that us “internet peopleâ€? haven’t thought of yet. Refreshing perspectives and nice folks on the front lines of working with your customers. Hint, they actually know more about the human condition than you know about PHP or billing fraud.
I cannot believe there is not someone from Myspace or Match speaking. That’s like ignoring the elephant in the room.
Not sure about the revenue models for online dating panel, worth checking out if you’re just getting into the space. That used to be my topic at SITRAS. That could be a really good session, or not.
The rest are sales pitches. Hit the ones that make sense and then go to the pool where the real networking happens.
Pretty disappointing Day Two, with apologies to Multiuply and Tickle, not seeing much value in the second day unless you are a matchmaker. Advanced session on billboard advertising and various SEO players which most can’t afford and don’t understand. I don’t get the “how women relate to meâ€? session. First session for those too hung over from Monday night?
Previous post about iDate. My post about last year’s iDate, Your Armchair Guide to iDate, may be of interest to some.
Last year, there was iDate Radio at Webmasterradio.fm. Lot’s of vendor pitches, useful if you weren’t at the conference. Not sure if they are doing this again this year.
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Dave - can you please explain this point? I’m pretty curious.
There are literally hundreds of sites on the edge of collapsing. The smart ones are putting on lipstick to look as sexy as possible to suitors at iDate.
To that point, there are many dating sites looking to sell off their databases. Acquiring sites look for data that most sites don’t have or track if they are free, such as credit card number, phone, etc. Most sites won’t simply buy email addresses, and the selling site often has to change their Terms of Service first.
Often easier to advertise across a medium-grade network of sites than chance buying a CD full of bouncy email addresses.