Today’s guest post is by Julie Ferman of Cupid’s Coach. Julie has been a key participant and driver of new ideas at matchmaking and online dating conferences for many years.
The third annual Matchmaker Conference over October 23-25 was a raving success. Gathered together in Weehawken, NJ at the Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel were 85 of the world’s most savvy and dedicated personal matchmakers, dating coaches, and dating industry execs.
The conference is produced by Lisa Clampitt and Jerome Chasques, founders of Matchmaking Pro, the first association which brings together professional matchmakers and dating and relationship coaches. The mission of the annual Matchmaker Conference is to build a healthy, supportive community of peers, to share resources, maintain quality control, and to literally evolve and propel forward the personal matchmaking industry. The association and the conference provides the opportunity for individual matchmakers and larger companies to share resources and referrals, support one another, receive press leads, and develop national and international referral networks for both prospective client leads and referral candidates for existing clients.
The halls of the hotel were abuzz with enthusiasm, shared stories, abundant laughter and “aha†insight moments as this group of dating and relationship experts compared notes on dating coaching secrets, client challenges and success stories, business innovations, marketing strategies, and innovative ideas for client sharing and cooperative matching strategies.
The conference has been emceed each year by Julie Ferman, founder of Cupid’s Coach, a personal matchmaking and dating coaching company based in Los Angeles. A 20-year veteran of the dating industry, formerly a Great Expectations franchisee, Julie Ferman has produced many a dating industry conference and is also a regular presenter at the Internet Dating Conference in Miami. When asked what’s special and different about the Matchmaker Conference, Ferman beamed with her contagious ebullient enthusiasm. “There’s a completely different ‘vibe’ here at this conference, compared with any dating industry event I’ve ever attended or produced; when this group of matchmakers gathers, it’s literally a Love Fest. The talents and skills that might make someone a natural for personal matchmaking are very different from those that might enable success in business; matchmakers need to not only be experts at enabling relationship but also we need to learn how to survive and thrive as business owners, and this conference is all about strengthening both elements of ourselves and our businesses. It’s an honor and a true pleasure to work with Lisa and Jerome and to lead and synergize with these matchmakers from all over the world. We had speakers and attendees from Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, the U.K., Canada – amazing.â€
Highlights of the conference: Keynote speaker Rachel Greenwald, author of “Why He Didn’t Call You Back†delivered a fascinating and well received address, revealing the insights of her extensive research into what women are doing that’s working with the modern day man, and…what’s not. Also a highlight was the presentation by Joelle Apter, with GenePartner, which has developed a biological matching method, designed as a complementary service for matchmakers and online dating sites. Based on the genetic profile of the client, the GenePartner formula determines the level of genetic compatibility with the person they are interested in meeting.
Early-Bird pricing is available through November for next year’s Matchmaker Conference, same place, Weehawken, NJ. October 22-23-24, 2010. For early bird reservations visit www.matchmakerconference.com or call 877.232.8743.
