| On a recent international flight I stumbled over two | | | | "discerning, busy, professional". It still seems to be. |
| advertisements in their in-flight magazine for dating or | | | | This one is even a "boutique style" matchmaker. I |
| introduction services as they were called in my active | | | | grew up with boutiques, learned what boutique hotels |
| days as a matchmaker in Ireland. One concentrates | | | | are but have never seen this label applied to a |
| on lunch dating. You've found "your very own | | | | matchmaker although I hail from a country that has a |
| wing-woman" when you entrust them with scheduling | | | | century old history of matchmaking. The comparison |
| your dates over "informal" lunches. Their clients | | | | with an executive recruitment service specializing in |
| appreciate to best optimize their dating lives by hiring | | | | headhunting is not new. We used that line effectively |
| an expert; experts who shine some light on today's' | | | | to open skeptical doors of customers and media |
| complicated dating scene by giving advice on how to | | | | representatives alike. |
| meet people successfully. Knowing how difficult it is | | | | So they still do exist, these personalized services |
| for true professionals to find time for lunch this | | | | whereas everybody else seems to be happily dating |
| sounds like killing two birds with one stone. | | | | online -- or maybe not so happily. Numbers worldwide |
| The other company prides itself in its selective | | | | are alleged to have reached over 60 million cyber |
| search. Their commercial is very persuasive. How can | | | | date junkies. In spite of this, there still seems to be a |
| one resist a company that claims to have a proven | | | | need for what distinguished our service from online |
| process to find a mate titled Meet your Future? | | | | dating agencies: the personal touch. This, in fact, was |
| They have taken their search to high-caliber, | | | | our major selling point over the competition. |
| commitment-minded singles and have a proven | | | | I knew my new business had gained extra credibility |
| success rate, or so they say. Every dating | | | | and respectability when we were featured in a British |
| introduction/matchmaking company worth its money | | | | airline in-flight magazine. The headline of the article |
| has been claiming just that since I was in the | | | | read "Check Mate". |
| business. The accent in our advertising was always | | | | |