Taken from the update email from Rich Gosse.
What a terrific weekend in San Francisco! Thank you to all of you who traveled from so far to attend The International Internet Dating Convention, May 28-29. The convention exceeded even our most optimistic expectations.
For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s what happened:
1. We elected a Board of Directors for The International Association of Dating Websites. Congratulations to the winners:
*Andrew Conru, FriendFinder.com
*Jeffrey Ullman, Founder of Great Expectations and GreaterRelations.com.
*Julie Ferman, CupidsCoach.com
*Tim Price, Date.com
*Evan Katz, E-Cyrano.com. Evan was also our Keynote Speaker and gave a most informative and entertaining presentation.
*Chris Arvig, ConnectingSingles.com
*Dave Evans, ProfileDoctor.com
*Dan Bender, Founder, AmericanSingles.com
*Rich Gosse, Founder, International Association of Dating Websites
2. We hope that those of you who were not elected to the Board of Directors won’t just sit back and watch us do all the work. We need your help.
3. During the Trade Association meeting we covered a broad range of topics, including:
*Senate Bill 52, The Internet Tax Discrimination Act, which is currently being considered by the Senate Commerce Committee. It is imperative that this bill be passed so that the Internet remains tax-free.
*Ethical issues, such as phony profiles on many dating websites, unauthorized credit card charges, etc.
*How to improve the poor conversion rate on free memberships of dating websites.
*Safety Education
*Insurance & liability issues
*How to promote the online dating industry favorably to the news media. We got off to a great start at the convention. The news media attended in force, including Cash Peters of National Public Radio (who did a five minute segment on us and claims 7 million listeners); Andrew Morris of Reuters; ABC TV’s San Francisco affiliate; KCBS Radio (Northern California’s top news station); and Paulina Borsook, who is writing a book on Sex & Technology.
*The history of trade associations for the dating industry.
5.We also had live entertainment from the cast of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” Off-Broadway’s longest running hit. Plus a Dance Party.
The newly elected Board of Directors will meet soon. I will keep you posted. Let me know if you have any concerns that you wish me to raise with the Board.
Cordially,
Rich Gosse
Founder, International Association of Dating Websites
richgosse@comcast.net
415/479-3800
