Want to spice up Valentine’s Day?

love-u-valentines-day-19080940-1024-768It’s Valentine’s Day and whether we are in a relationship or not, this holiday is designed to remind us about love. Love is not just an emotion, it’s an ability. So, let’s rightsize this holiday for everyone, shall we.

Single’s Awareness Day

I think that a mixed dating method is a better approach to dating. For the simple reason that once you are offline and in a relationship it is the interaction that will sustain the relationship. Although rejection might be a driving deterring factor in public dating, it amazes me that it is not a deterrent in any other area of life you desire. Do we think about it during a job interview, a graduate school application, or salary negotiations?

The restaurants are all packed and serving pre-fixe dinners. What to do? Hmm. Nothing like starting an online dating profile on a day when you know other singles have no dinner plans. These are the two sites that I recommend:

  1. IvyDate is a simple, easy-to-use, matching based online dating website that features Ivy League graduates. All members are reviewed and approved by IvyDate. You are matched up with exceptional singles who value intellectual curiosity, love of learning, creativity, drive and determination.
  2. Matchmaker Café is a Facebook application that allows you to connect with people without being Facebook friends first. MMC sets up members on real dates at a real cafe through the network of a real matchmaker. For many, the advantages are that the app and services are very schedule and time conscious. They make the dates happen and introduce you when you get there. Sign-up is through Facebook, where you can set your own privacy settings.

Amateur/Rookie Night

I recently had the honor of being a guest on Maria Quiban’s MommyLovesTech Sex, Marriage & Romance: Valentines Special on Keeping the Flame Lit! google+ Hangout on Air. The show featured the founders of One Extraordinary Marriage, Tony & Alisa DiLorenzo, who shared some of their tips on how to keep up the levels of intimacy in your relationship while maintaining a balance in all areas of your life. One of the key points that the couple highlighted was to schedule intimacy with your partner that involves no electronic device interruption. Rather than going out on this night, make this your scheduled intimacy night. Another  idea Tony & Alissa recommend is to take it back to a point where you didn’t really on your computer or cell for entertainment, play naked twister with one another!

The best online dating screener: Google+ hangouts!

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According to online dating statistics, 1 out of 3 people are now using online dating as a method of finding their mate.  Some may say that this is the new dating norm for the 30-something age range. Unlike the 20-something age range, according to the New York Times’ The End of Courtship?, 30-somethings still use phones for conversations, have one-on-one dates, and flirt in public not twitter.

So, I asked myself what can the 30-something group do to be just as tech savvy and unconventional to make our dating experiences more efficient?  Ladies & Gents, I have found our answer!!! I am going to start this trend: Google + hangouts! What? Never heard of it? I recently started using it myself. Let me tell you all about it. It was launched over a year ago and is a video chat program that allows us to interact with up to 10 people face-to-face. It’s a  different social networking concept from the other social network platforms, but the same in terms of sharing information, photos, latest news, etc. The key difference is it is LIVE human interaction! In addition to business conferencing; meetings; networking; connecting; and sharing, I found the best application: online dating screening! I have found Google+ hangouts to be the most effective & efficient method in screening potential dates.

Here’s my rationale:

1. Time

So, I thought what are 30-somethings most concerned with? Time, right? No one wants to waste time because we have a limited amount of it with our work and life schedules. Well, Google+ hangouts resolves this. Let’s consider the time invested in the initial phase of online dating. We go through the process of identifying a pool of potential candidates, email screen, and are now ready to talk on the phone/meet in person. I would use the phone conversation as my screener and hope that it would all go well when we met in life. That’s where the second phase of time investment is: preparing for the date. The process of aligning your schedules, dressing for it, and mentally preparing yourself for the date. That’s where the g+h/o (what I like to call it or h/o for short 🙂 ) comes in! You can schedule a face-to-face video chat to determine if you want to go that second phase of time investment. All you have to do is send a link to the g+ho and schedule a video chat!

2. Physical attraction

What frustrates us the most about meeting people face-to-face? If their photos and life have discrepancies, right? One of the top things both men and women lie about on their profiles is age. Seeing them on a video chat gives you the opportunity to determine whether you are really physically attracted to the person or the whatever year old photo they decided to use!

3. Lifestyle

People usually are conducting their g+ho from their homes. It’s either a bedroom, living room or home office. Which provides us with an easy way to determine: 1) whether they are messy/organized; 2) what their tastes are (art work, furniture, photos displayed), and 3) a small margin of if there is chemistry or not.

Oh, the other added bonus is that you may be able to determine if the person is married based on the room, too. If you like cyberstalking, this is another added bonus, you can see the person’s activities and profile if it’s completed!

Thanks Google+, Vic Gundotra, Chee Chew, Dori Storbeck and Natalie Villalobos for making my life so much easier! Here’s the link to learn more and join Google+ hangouts: http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/

For now, I have just tried the one-on-one video chat, but am going to be exploring different dating efficiency techniques and sharing them with you all! Looking forward to hearing about your experiences with the g+ho!