Ask any Boston lady about her experiences meeting men and she’ll definitely have a few horror stories that will haunt you for a long time. I myself have a few. Like the TSA air marshal who I found out via a good old-fashioned Google search had been arrested for harassing and mugging an Occupy Boston protester. Or the fella who told me he wanted to have my children on the third date. Or the one who had a girlfriend.
So how are we supposed to meet quality guys? The best way to avoid a major disappointment is to get an introduction from someone else - a vouch, if you will. That’s the philosophy behind Jess, Meet Ken - a dating site that initially went live last February and was a 2014 MassChallenge participant. Now, the website—based out of MassChallenge in South Boston— is officially launching, enabling users to finally start meeting one another.
The way it works is simple: Women who know great guys answer a few questions about them, which then generate profiles that other users can scope out. And women who are looking for those great guys can browse through the database of eligible bachelors with the assurance that another chick has advocated for them.
However, in the initial version of the site, women were only able to post profiles for those perfect-for-someone-else men. Now, with thousands of profiles created, users have the opportunity to actually start introducing their best prospects to each other. So instead of having to reach out to the fella you’re intrigued by directly, you can ask for an intro through the woman who recommended him.
For example, Adele posts about her friend Ken. The profile piques Jess’ interest, so she reaches out to Adele to ask about him. Adele then introduces the two of them, and they get married and have three kids. This is a true story. And yes, it’s about the founders, Jess and Ken Deckinger. Adele Testani was Ken’s previous co-founder in HurryDate, which was acquired by Sparks Networks, the parent company to successful sites like JDate and ChristianMingle.com. Ken noted that she has played a key role in their business, but also in their personal lives. He and Adele have been friends since they were 16 years old, and it was her idea to post a profile for Ken on a similar site - the one that led him to his now wife, Jess.
This third-party female mediator clearly plays a key role, and seeing as it’s exactly what fueled the real-life Jess and Jen relationship, it’s safe to say that’s one of the most valuable features of the site.
First thing’s first, though. How do you find a potential match? Part of the process of posting a profile for bachelor is answering a series of questions about the kinds of things other women would want to know before meeting him.
"It’s as if you’re talking to another woman in person and asking about her guy friend," Deckinger explained. "For instance, how funny is he? Is he smart? What’s his dating history like? We do it all with a tongue and cheek approach. Jess and I don’t take ourselves too seriously and like to have a lot of fun with everything we do so that’s reflected in the tone of the questions we ask."
Having this insider info on the bachelor’s quirks and endearing qualities is one of the main advantages that Jess, Meet Ken has over other dating sites. Women are better able to filter out the BS and figure out what a guy is really like to determine if they’re a good fit. Plus, unlike many other dating apps and sites, they’re not inundated with countless unwanted messages from men they’d never be interested in.
"The majority of people using online dating feel that others misrepresent themselves," said Deckinger. "This eliminates that."
And since all of the profile info and even the photo are posted by the woman, users can rest assured that they’re getting an accurate depiction.
"Frankly, the biggest advantage we have over other dating sites is that guys aren’t putting up pictures of themselves with their shirts off holding a big fish," he added.
Because we've all learned the hard way those don't typically lead to a happy ending.
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