Dating Awards 2014 - Roundup of some of the most innovative nominees
Last Thursday saw a unique chance to celebrate the achievements of the UK dating industry with the first ever UK Dating Awards. Held at the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the city of London and hosted by TV personality Rick Edwards, the black tie event was a glamourous night out for all the types of dating experts including journalists, event managers, online and offline matchmakers. A total of over 300 guests were decked out in their finest to enjoy the champagne reception and prize giving, to network and to see if they could win an award in their category.
There were lots of prizes and an impressive display of innovation on all fronts. I was sat next to Judy Nadel, organizer of the London Pheromone parties. This is a ‘fresh’ take on singles nights that came originally from LA. The parties require you to bring your three-day-old bed clothes with you and then sniff around and see who you like. Sounds odd but, I was assured, makes for a great ice breaker at a singles event.
More potentially game changing innovations came from the online nominees. You’d have thought online dating has been around long enough that every possible method for matching two hopefuls together would have been thought of already. Wrong. There are still loads of new ideas out there competing for a share of the market and hoping to catch the public’s imagination. What about an app that matches you only with your extended circle of facebook friends (‘My Mate Your Date’). Worried about scammers and safety online? ‘Would Like to Meet’ requires all its registrants to video themselves reading their name and age – such a simple way to verify the authenticity of profile pictures and keep their customers safe.
Newcomer App of the year
Winner of ‘Newcomer App of the Year’ was Trueview. This apps’s answer to the compete-with-Tinder challenge is to take mobile dating back towards the shared interests approach of many desktop sites. Trueveiw matches by shared interest first and foremost, gets people together to pursue those interests and attempts to take the focus away from just profile pictures.
French import Happn was highly commended in the same category (runner up) and definitely proved itself my favourite app that night. Happn is like Tinder, but it matches you to people you pass in the street, or while out in bars and clubs. Energetically though I networked during the evening, you can’t get to everyone. Imagine my delight the next morning to discover that my Happn account had done some of the hard work for me. Several hours after actually being in the same room as them, the clever app had matched me with three ladies I had either missed or not got contact details for, as well as loads of other women out and about in Old Street that night. Got to love that.
Support creating profiles
It was also interesting to see a range of dating support services that have sprung up and were nominated for various awards. One of the winning entrants was a Saskia Nelson who has focused her photography work at creating the perfect profile images for on and offline daters with the site saturdaynightsalright.com. I also met the team from ‘Brand You Max’ who offer comprehensive guidance and support to online daters through their site. This includes help taking or choosing photos and advice on how to make your profile stand out (ever more important as the numbers increase).
Lovestruck
The winner of best dating site went to a fairly traditional service, proving that alongside technological innovation, branding and styling remain the very important factors in online success. Lovestruck’s original USP was to get singles to meet up in and around their workplaces, rather than where they lived. This simple idea was perfect for London and the other big cities where they operate. Since, Lovestruck has managed to attract a trendy urban crowd and secure a reputation for throwing great parties.
It was a long night, lasting nearly 5 hours and that was before the after party. However, it was impossible to be bored in such company. The room was full of innovative self-starters pursuing their ideas with real belief and big ambitions. I could never tire of listening to such motivated chatter and the UK Dating Awards easily wins the accolade of least boring industry awards evening I have ever attended. Let’s hope they do it again next year…
Submitted by George Sanders on