Category: Featured Articles

Global Love Report – November 10, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Aura Matchmaking and Alcanda Matchmaking agencies in Spain are two agencies that focus on executives.

Aura Matchmaking’s CEO, Sandra Massana, first heard about matchmaking agencies from a friend of hers in London.

Massana found out that matchmaking agencies have existed in the US and other countries in the EU. However, in Spain it was a different story. Aside from Alcanda Matchmaking, there really were no other matchmaking agencies. Most were either using the online dating model or were marriage agencies.

The story for Alcanda Matchmaking was slightly different. The company’s founder, Veronica Alcanda, had moved back to Spain after living abroad for almost two decades. She thought that while meeting people was easy, finding someone to start a long-term relationship with was a challenge.

She initially found out about matchmaking agencies when she saw ads for them in a magazine. This piqued her interest. She wanted to register with one so she searched for an agency in Spain. Surprisingly, there were none in the Southern part of Europe.

So, instead of registering with a matchmaking agency, she decided to start a new business venture—her very own matchmaking company.
When they started out, Alcanda’s clients were between 40 and 60 years old. However, soon they were getting younger clients, even those in their 30s, though 80% of her clientele are between 40 and 55 years old. 55% of them are men. 80% are divorced whereas 15% have never married and 5% are widowers.

According to Alcanda, on average, their clients tend to find a suitable match after the second or third candidate that the agency has found them.

And for Aura Matchmaking? Massana stated that the only shortcoming of their agency is they’ve yet to extend their services to the LGBTI community. Though she added that the company is looking to do so shortly.

The original article about these Spanish matchmaking agencies was published by Forbes (in Spanish).

(Image source: Unsplash, Vitor Monteiro)

Global Love Report – November 10, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Matchmaker Jean-eva Dickie, who is based in Halifax, asked her clients: “would you date someone who chose not to be vaccinated?”

She decided to ask this question when a potential client approached her to find a match who was unvaccinated. She informed him that 80% of Nova Scotia was vaccinated. That means the “pool” from which she could find him a match would be much smaller.

The man had no qualms with this, adding that if his match shared his opinion about being vaccinated then that means she would probably have more in common with him.

Around 430 people participated in her poll. The results showed that of those polled, only 17.7% said they would date someone who chose not to be vaccinated.

It’s not the first time that someone in the matchmaking industry posed this question. A few months ago, Lunch Actually released their own report on what vaccination and dating.

For the full interview about dating and vaccination in Halifax, watch the video here.

(Image source: Pexels, Thirdman)

Global Love Report – November 3, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

One of the “most swiped right” user on Tinder, an American university student studying in Scotland, did not end up finding love online.

Despite being one of the most popular women on Tinder in 2019, Eliana Silver did not end up matching with a lot of men. Overall, her Tinder experience ended with, at most, two dates with anyone she met on the app.

Silver claimed that most people seemed to be looking for something casual whereas she wanted to “establish connections”, noting that though there are users who are looking for long-term relationships but they’re fewer in number on the app.

Fortunately, Silver did end up with a long-term relationship, though she found her boyfriend offline, through mutual friends. Silver stated that meeting someone offline “works 100 times better.”

Originally published in The Mirror.

(Image source: Pixabay, Niekverlaan)

Global Love Report – November 3, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Matchmaking agency Dating Oost has introduced elderly speed dating in the Arnhem region in the Netherlands.

Getty Schepers is co-owner of Dating Oost with her husband Wilfred. And was there for a recent speed dating event. Her agency usually covers the Twente area but they wanted to also serve the Arnhem region.

Schepers explained that these events are very popular with women. So much so that they’ve had to stopped registration for women.
Men, however, were difficult. She stated that they had to be persuaded to sign up, some were pushed to do so by their children. She also added that men tended to be less social than women.

Some of the participants are very happy with the event. Astrid Bon from Wageningen revealed that she had been to three speed dating events so far. According to her, these speed dating events worked much better than online dating. In fact, she said that she wouldn’t mind if these events were organized more often.

Originally published in Gelderlander.

(Image source: Pexels, Alex Green)

Global Love Report – November 3, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

According to a matchmaking agency manager, the marriage search scene in Japan has been rapidly changing. This is especially so for young working women who have just found employment. Particularly those who are in their first or second year of work.

The pandemic has caused a change in the way people look at work and their own lifestyle. Some are trying to get married earlier because of this. Some women who have only been in the workforce for 1-2 years are now seeking to get married and to retire.

Marriage agencies are seeing a 30% increase in consultations for women in their early twenties today compared to pre-COVID.

For most of these young working women, they entered the workforce and had to work remotely—where even the interviews were conducted remotely. They have never seen their company’s office and the feeling of pride, of “I work here” doesn’t exist because of this.

They’re finding it difficult to have career goals. Because they’re not able to see the boss or coworkers—they’re unable to find motivation. They feel detached from their work.

However, some of these women, especially the ones who are highly educated and who have a higher salary than their peers, don’t have a good idea of their criteria for a partner. Some are even unaware that their salary is two or three times higher than standard.

Furthermore, some have no idea about what a marriage is all about or how to communicate with a partner. The article’s author, a matchmaker herself, found it fascinating that these women are learning about these things not in the real world or at work—but during their matchmaking consultation.

Originally published in Yahoo Finance Japan.

(Image source: Pexels, Rodnae Productions)

Global Love Report – November 3, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities (AGJC) have launched a dating service for Jewish singles in the Gulf region.

Jewish communities in the Gulf region have grown in size in the last few years. So, the association set up “Jewish Singles in the Gulf” as a way to pair up local Jewish singles. This is seen as a way to help Jewish singles set down roots in the region.

In order to participate, singles are requested to go fill up a questionnaire on a website. After, a group of matchmakers will go through their application and help match them.

The association are hoping that this will lead to events and programs for singles in the future.

Originally published in News of Bahrain.

(Image source: Pexels, Timo Volz)

Global Love Report – October 27, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

In the new TV program “Cupido Ofzo” (translation: “Cupid or Something”) people with mild intellectual disability are looking for love with the help of actresses Leonie ter Braak and Wendy van Dijk.

Leonie ter Braak and Wendy van Dijk started the dating agency in order to help candidates. They plan special dates, help with preparations and to calm nerves. The dates themselves isn’t anything too out there: an exclusive beach dinner or a romantic picnic in the park. And if the date is a success, then candidates will organize the second date themselves.

According to Leonie, the dating market has taken a hit by Covid but it’s especially difficult for people with disabilities. She mentioned that some of them were lonely and deserved attention and that they’re happy to help with that.

“It’s really about the candidates and creating a good match that will suit them.”

She added that even if the chemistry isn’t there, they’d still be able to have a good day, which is a good boost for their self-confidence.

Originally published by Linda.nl. For the full article, click here.

(Image source: Pexels, Terje Sollie)

Global Love Report – October 27, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

The South Korean Fair-Trade Commission recently announced an amendment for the standard terms and conditions for matchmaking agencies. The new matchmaking rules have to do with contract termination.

Previously, only the agency can terminate a contract between client and matchmaking agency. When the agency’s matchmaker has not found a match for the client and the contract period has passed, the agency has to extend the client’s membership. The agency also must guarantee the client the remaining number of matches per the contract.

This new revision, however, stated that a client is able to cancel the contract if they wanted to. This is in addition to the membership extension and obtaining the remaining number of matches option.

A Commission official explained that the new matchmaking rules is due to customer complaints that occur when companies create contracts that state that clients are unable to cancel the contract even if the agreed service period has passed.

Along with this, the amendment also noted that the penalty fee for contract termination must be charged differently, depending on how far along the matchmaker’s progress is.

Originally published by The Korea Economic Daily. For the full article, click here.

(Image source: Pexels, Andrea Piacquadio)

Global Love Report – October 27, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

The Japan Matchmaking Support Association is partnering with local governments in the prefectures of Hokkaido, Ibaraki and Nagano for a new matchmaking service. The “Migration Marriage” program’s aim is to match people from urban areas with rural residents.

Ultimately, the program is about boosting the local rural population that is in decline. It’s also to boost the declining birthrate. Additionally, it’s a measure to improve gender ratio in rural areas due to the lack of women.

There’s no registration fee for the program itself. In order to make the adjustment process easier, participants will receive information on how to adjust their urban lifestyle to a rural one, after their matchmaking.

The migration marriage program is open for women from 20 to 50 and men from 22 to 50. Applicants are to register through the program’s website and later they will be introduced to the local government at their desired destination.

After the registration procedure, the matchmaking process will begin.

Originally published by PR Times. For the full article, click here.

(Image source: Unsplash, Sam Lee)

Global Love Report – October 27, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

While dating app may be popular right now, some people are feeling fatigued with them. That’s why would-be matchmakers are helping singles to find new ways–using modern tech–to find a match. Some are using Twitter to help others find a match.

Katherine D. Morgan’s twitter thread invited other singles to reply with a picture of themselves and a short bio of who they are and what they’re looking for.

The result? Several actual real-life dates for singles in her hometown, a long-distance meet up, and a short relationship. And the Twitter thread is still active.

Another means of helping others find a match is through email. Randa Sakallah created an email newsletter that features one profile of a single person currently seeking a match every week.

Aside from the usual information such as name and the type of person they’re looking for, Sakallah also asks “random” questions that reveals more about each single’s personality.

One professional dating coach, Alexis Germany, is matchmaking on TikTok. She introduces singles on her TikTok and invites people who are interested to contact them directly on the person’s Instagram account. What’s more, her popular TikTok matchmaking series (that she does for free) is a great tool to market her business.

Originally published by MIT Technology Review. Read the Full article here.

(Image source: Unsplash, Solen Feyissa)