Category: Featured Articles

Global Love Report – October 20, 2021
Translated by Pamela Stephanie

No festivals, sunny holidays, parties or concerts this summer. For many people it was a boring time, but students Idwerd (22) and Kiban (22) from Zeist had plenty to do. They were busy organizing blind dates for fellow residents from the Warande student complex in Zeist.

Making calls for participants, conducting matching conversations, matching people together, and planning blind dates. For two months they were busy trying to make this project successful and they did it. “In the end we were able to match 54 people. There were 27 dates in total,” says Idwerd de Graaf, the creator of the blind date program.

Door-to-door

A lot of things happened before this. It started with an ad on Facebook but there weren’t a lot of responses. That’s why the two have approached this in a different way, says co-organizer Kiban van den Heuvel. “The cheapest way to get people excited was to go door-to-door. We went to 180 homes in total to ring the doorbell and to ask if people wanted to go on a blind date. Every house had between five to ten students living there, so you can imagine that it took us a while to do that.”

It took some time and effort but it paid off. Idwerd saw the registrations pour in and then the matching interviews followed. “In 20-minute conversations we tried to create a profile of everyone, in order to make good matches. It was super fun to do. It was also very nice for us to meet our fellow residents during the pandemic.”

Corona-proof Matching

The interviews were all held on the bench next to the roundabout near the student complex. “This way, we were safe in the open air and everyone can openly talk without roommates being around.” 54 matching interviews didn’t happen in a week, says Kiban. “There were days where we sat on the bench from nine in the morning until nine at night.”

Lukas Krabbenborg (20) has lived in the flat for 4 months and thinks the blind dates is a fun way to meet new people. “Last year I started studying at the beginning of the pandemic. I was still living with my parents so a student life was out of the question. After a year, I found that I really missed social contact very much and I moved to Zeist. The blind date program was a fun and exciting way to meet people from the flat.”

Lukas noticed that there was a lot of desire to date in the flat. “Everyone that I talked to was eager to meet new people again. The people who are single in particular missed the parties and clubs where you normally find a date. Even though a romantic relationship wasn’t the outcome for me, I did meet new people who I chat with when I bump into them.”

Developing Identity

That it’s important to meet new people in your student years is confirmed by Susan Branje, Professor of Pedagogical Sciences at Utrecht University. “Dating and relationships are an important aspect for developing your identity for students. By dating you find out what you find important in a relationship and who would be a good match for you. As a result, you also learn a lot about yourself.”

“In addition, student life is precisely about meeting new people. You start a new education, in another city, maybe you move. Corona made it difficult to build new relations. We have seen that this group [of students] have been very lonely in the past year and a half. That’s why I think this initiative is very positive. It shows that you can still meet new people in a creative, corona-proof way.”

Idwerd and Kiban hope that they will not have to organize blind dates in a corona-like situation in the future. But they have become enthusiastic about matching people up. “Who knows, maybe we’ll do it again next summer.”

Original article published by RTV Utrecht.

(Image source: Unsplash, Matt Reames)

Global Love Report – October 20, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Met@Chabad have hired new Jewish matchmaking-hopefuls to join their team. Met@Chabad is a program by Chabad Young Professionals International. CYP International wish to create a “values-based dating system” that will bring young Jewish professionals together.

Among these matchmakers is Tzippy Friedman, co-director of Chabad Young Professionals in San Francisco. Tzippy Friedman describes herself as someone with a passion for matchmaking, however, lacked the resources to do so. Fortunately, she and a few others have joined Met@Chabad’s team of matchmakers.

Because these new matchmakers aren’t professional matchmakers by trade, they are being trained by an experienced shadchanim (matchmaker) on how to become a professional matchmaker. After they have completed their training, they will receive their certification and would start working with their “clients”.

Originally published by COLlive.

(Image source: Unsplash, John Schnobrich)

Global Love Report – October 20, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Matchmaking fees in fourth and fifth-tier cities in mainland China have skyrocketed in the past five years.

In China, the singles population exceeds 200 million, which is fertile grounds for the matchmaking industry. Chinese media have found that business is thriving in the fourth and fifth-tier cities, especially in the rural areas.

Recently, local media found that the pricing for matchmaking agencies in the city of Huangshi, in Hubei province, have quadrupled compared to five years ago. The per capita disposable income of urban residents in Huangshi is 37,912 yuan (close to US$5,900). For rural residents, it’s 16,549 yuan (around US$2,500). The highest introduction fee can cost as high as 20,000 yuan (around US$3,100).

Clients for matchmaking agencies in Huangshi live within the area, however, some also worked in larger cities such as Wuhan and Shanghai. Female clients on average have a college degree at the minimum, with some being top students with a Master’s degree.

Original article published by HKHeadline.

(Image source: Pixabay, Tumisu)

Global Love Report – October 13, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

A Japanese travel company has decided to open their own matchmaking service called “Konsuru”. The service itself is unique because the matchmaking process is equivalent to planning a trip or marriage journey.

The aim is to have a “tabikon” or a travel wedding.

Clients will be given a “getting married ticket”, which will represent their first step into their marriage journey.

They will then create an intinerary for the “marriage journey”. This is where a professional matchmaker will help them plan their matchmaking journey as if planning for a trip. The matchmaker will ask the client about their preferences. They will also ask what their ideal wedding is like.

Each time a client pays to extend services, they will earn “miles” as a gift. These miles are equivalent to 5% of their monthly fees. They can be used as discount coupons for any additional matchmaking services or on the travel website owned by the parent company.

And when clients eventually marry, they will receive a passport that will help them save money for a trip. And a travel agent will help plan for the client’s honeymoon if the clients wish to.

To read the full article in Japanese, click here.

Original article published by PR Times.

(Image source: Pexels, Asad Photo Maldives)

Global Love Report – October 6, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Japan’s Single Mothers’ Support Association has partnered with Clef du Mariage matchmaking agency. The Association is based in Yokohama and has approximately eight thousand members. It provides support for single mothers in terms of finding a job, networking, and even businesses owned by single mothers.

To mark the Association’s partnership with the agency, an event will take place at the end of this month. The aim of the partnership is to help members remarry within one year, to fulfill one of the pillars of the Association: “the happiness of remarriage.”

Because single mothers are often too busy juggling work, housework, and child rearing, it’s often difficult for them to find someone to date and eventually marry. Therefore, the Association decided to partner with Clef du Mariage to start a members-only service.

The agency will help members find matches who are aware of their single-mother status and willing to date.

For the original Japanese article, please click here.

Original article published by PR Times.

(Image source: Pexels, Ketut Subiyanto)

Global Love Report – October 6, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

A new matchmaking agency opened recently in the city of Vire. Its owner, Marilyne Moisan has actually been in the dating industry for the past 11 years. However, her focus before had been on online dating. In fact, she created an online dating site in 2018 called Amour normand.

However, she decided to go back to the old tried and true methods of matchmaking. So, concurrent to her online dating business, she decided to open her new matchmaking agency.

Moisan explained that she’s offering something different for singles used to online dating. “The level of security is total,” especially for singles who are tired of fake profiles or old photographs or those looking to meet face-to-face instead of looking at a phone or a monitor.

To accommodate those who are hesitant to take the first step, Moisan will establish a profile, get to know the client and their expectations and then advise them on their selection criteria. She won’t be showing photographs and clients won’t be exchanging messages with their potential match before their first date.

Moisan will also be collaborating with other businesses. She mentioned that hairdressers who can refer clients to her will be given a commission, for example. She’s also organizing events and trips for singles—a way for people to get to know each other.

To read the original French article, click here.

Original article published by Actu.fr.

(Image source: Pexels, Amina Filkins)

Global Love Report – September 29, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

The Indonesian matchmaking service “Jadikan Aku Halalmu” (“Make Me be Your Halal”) had recently been launched. This service, created by the Ministry of Religion in Solo, Central Java, has attracted public attention.

Hidayat Maskur, the Head of the Solo Ministry of Religion explained that this is the Solo Ministry of Religion’s new program to help singles in the community in finding a life partner.

Hidayat explained that in order to join the program, participants must be single (never married). They also have to list down their preferences for their matches (criteria), and send in pictures of themselves. He reiterates that financial status doesn’t matter,  each participant will have their own preference regarding financial status anyway.

The most important thing is that they must be single.

As of now, there have been 172 applicants, mainly people living in Solo.

Hidayat revealed that the idea for this program came about after many married couples who met through social media due to the pandemic.

For the original article about this Indonesian matchmaking service, click here.

Original article published by Kompas.

(Image source: Pexels, Danu Hidayatur Rahman)

Global Love Report – September 29, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Olivier Javaudin, a 50-year-old Frenchman from Vendée, launched his matchmaking agency, Cupidon Vendée, at the start of August. He decided to open his own agency due to the fact that most agencies are located in more urban areas.

Javaudin felt that this excluded people living in rural areas who would want to register with a matchmaking agency but couldn’t because the agencies are out of their way. And thus, he decided to train to become a matchmaker within Kapler’s network of matchmaking agencies.

However, what sets Javaudin’s agency apart others is the fact that he personally goes to clients’ homes in order to have a better understanding of them and their environment–a to-your-door matchmaking agency. Additionally, not working out of an office meant that he had less expense. There’s no need to pay for rent for a physical office after all. And he’s also able to offer his services at a lower cost compared to other more “traditional” agencies.

This way of working is an advantage, according to Javaudin, because he goes directly to the clients’ homes. By seeing them in a setting they’re familiar with, he’s able to see a more complete picture of their personality.

To read the original article about Javaudin’s to-your-door matchmaking agency in French, click here.

Original article published by Les Sables Vendée Journal.

(Image source: Unsplash, Dimitry Anikin)

Global Love Report – September 22, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

According to research done by Monpetitdate, an independent online dating comparison website, the French have begun to leave online dating sites since the beginning of 2021. During the second lockdown in France, around August 2020 and February 2021, the traffic for the ten largest dating websites in France recorded an average decrease of 36%.

Overall, site visits dropped from 63.3 million in August to 46.4 million in February. Meetic, for example, saw its visits drop from 13 million to 10 million. Badoo dropped from 11 million to 8.5 million. Onvasortir (OVS) dropped from 7 million to 3.8 million.

According to their research, the dating website that dropped the least (by approximately 400,000 or 12%) was Gleeden, a site dedicated to extramarital dating, similar to Ashley Madison.

Monpetitdate thinks that the French have grown tired of online dating. Furthermore, their willingness to meet new people have also declined. At the time, people were also still under lockdown. And there were no indications as to when the lockdown would be lifted. Due to this, people most likely felt that a subscription to a dating app is relatively worthless when they don’t even know if they can go out to the cinema or restaurant in six months’ time.

For the full article in French, please click here.

Original article published by Monpetitdate.

(Image source: Pexels, Pixabay)

Global Love Report – September 22, 2021
A review article by Pamela Stephanie

Seniors in Canada are looking for companionship. According to statistics, more than 25% of people living alone in Canada are 65 years and older. Most of these seniors are divorced or separated, with some—mostly women—widowed.

It’s no wonder then that they’re seeking a companion. Although some aren’t looking for a romantic partner, the ones that are have either signed up to online dating platforms or have joined Facebook groups especially for single Seniors.

And then there are the ones who signed up to matchmaking agencies.

According to Rebecca Cooper Traynor, owner of Match Me Canada, a Matchmaking and Date Coaching agency, that in order to help these seniors, they don’t immediately delve into matching. In fact, her agency helps seniors with finding out more about themselves first and the type of person they want and what they find important.

This is because most of these senior clients have gone from long-term relationships into an entirely new dating scene. Fear is a big factor.

So, it’s important to get these clients comfortable with themselves. Because most of them are afraid of being physically vulnerable in front of someone they’re not familiar with. That’s why coaching is a big part of the process.

To read the full article, click here.

Original article published by The Globe and Mail.

(Image source: Pexels, Marcus Aurelius)