Direct From New York to San Fran for Love: A Matchmaking Experiment
16 women flew 3,000 miles to find dates in this matchmaking experiment.
June 5, 2014— -- Connecting New York women to men in the tech mecca of Silicon Valley so both can meet suitable singles to date sounds like a plot from a cheesy summer rom-com, but in fact, 16 women signed up for the chance to take on this real-life bi-coastal matchmaking experiment.
The founders of the dating start-up The Dating Ring recently launched a campaign to fly single New York women across the country to meet San Francisco men in a whirlwind weekend of dating.
Co-founders Lauren Kay, Katie Bambino and Emma Tessler launched the start-up first in New York City. The service typically matches people in the same cities, but as their business grew, they noticed that more women than men where using the service in New York, and in San Francisco, they saw the opposite.
"In New York, we had twice as many women signing up as men. In San Francisco, we had almost twice as many men signing up as women," Kay said, so the duo put two and two together and expanded the company to San Fran.
Looking to bridge the gap between the two dating pools, Kay used the crowdfunding site Crowdtilt to launch the "Cross-Country Love: Help Fly NYC Women to SF" campaign. Through Crowdtilt, they raised more than $10,000 to fly 16 single ladies from New York to San Francisco for a long weekend of first dates.
The women were given four days to go on two one-on-one blind dates with different men, mingle at a massive party, and then take a day to reconnect with a man of their choice.
"Nightline” was along for the ride as these East Coast ladies traveled almost 3,000 miles to take a chance on love in Golden State, and at least one of the women decided to take the long-distance plunge. Watch what happens on “Nightline” HERE.
Traveling across the country to meet someone for a blind date can be daunting, to say the least, and if that first date turns into a long-distance relationship, it takes commitment, but Tessler offers her tips to help couples navigate those unsteady dating waters. Click through the next two pages to find out more.
