The LTR online monthly gathering is by-invite-only for leaders who are members of IDEA, in the dating industry. Invites come from Mark Brooks. Please reply to Mark's email invite, or email mark@courtlandbrooks.com if you have any questions that aren't answered here.Â
LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and is the online mini-conference for leaders of companies that bring people together for loving relationships via technology. You can always see the latest LTR event at www.LTR.us.Â
In this edition, we will hear from Brandon Wade, founder and CEO of Seeking.com, who will engage in a fireside chat with Mark Brooks. Brandon will be joined by his wife and co-CEO Dana Rosewall, who will also share her insights, emphasizing the importance of a female perspective in dating platforms. Then Jessica Alderson, co-Founder & CEO of So Syncd, will present "Lessons From a Dating Startup, and Our Pivot".
LTR is a fast-paced 90 minutes, all-in.  Join us at 1pm EST (New York time) on Wed, July 10th. We'll have 30 mins of networking followed by one hour of presentations and Q&A. 90 mins in all, plus optional networking afterwards.
LTR is designed to help you get to know other CEOs and leaders of notable online dating companies. This event is small, focused, and by-invite-only. You'll meet a diverse group that can help you think outside the box, inform your business growth strategy, and inspire you.
The LTR online conference is hosted and attended by the Internet Dating Excellence Association (www.IDEA.gp). IDEA members are are welcome to join the monthly LTR online conference. Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to inquire about joining IDEA, which is entirely free.
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At LTR you'll hear ideas on growth opportunities, challenging issues worthy of collaboration, interesting new technology and inspirational and informative stories to help enhance your understanding and sharpen up your strategy. You'll have the opportunity to ask questions and engage with your peers.
LTR is a unique and uplifting and essential event that will help you and your company align with the best of what the dating and social discovery industries will become. LTR will help you evolve and help you connect with and gain perspective.
This LTR is sponsored and supported by:
ParshipMeet Group - One of the leading international Online Dating companies helping people to meet, date, and fall in love.
RealMe -Â Verification + Background checks. Making dating apps & communities more trusted.
Along with:
   Courtland Brooks - The Internet dating business consultancy-agency
  Matchmaker.com - Raise your ARPU by referring qualified users to experienced matchmakersÂ
Get your daily online dating executive news summary -> Subscribe to Online Personals Watch
Mark runs the niche agency-consultancy Courtland Brooks focusing on strategy, marketing and business development for Internet dating companies and online social communities. He's served POF, The Meet Group, and 120+ companies since 2005. Prior to this, he worked with Friendster, and ran an adventure club in Silicon Valley. Mark has been quoted in press 288 times (18 times in WSJ).Â
He heads the Internet Dating Excellence Association (since 2007) hosts the monthly online mini-conference LTR, and the daily news service Online Personals Watch (since 2004) .
Mark is a graduate of Harvard Business School (PLD) and London School of Economics (Exec. MSc, Behavioral Science).
Mark is committed to helping dating and social industry executives connect, learn and share, and get inspired for an even more effective and prosperous future.
Mark has spent 25 years in the dating business.
Brandon is a serial entrepreneur and author, known for founding dating sites such as Seeking.com, WhatsYourPrice.com, and MissTravel.com.
An MIT graduate, Wade has held executive roles at Fortune 500 companies like General Electric and Microsoft before rising to prominence with Seeking.com, a platform for successful and attractive people. This venture has brought him national and international attention, establishing him as a significant figure in the online dating industry.
Brandon is a recognized relationship expert, frequently appearing on media outlets like CNN, The New York Times, and Forbes. He is also an author of several books on dating and relationships, and actively shares his expertise as a speaker, including on his platform, AskBrandonWade.
Jessica is the Co-Founder and CEO of So Syncd, a dating app that matches users based on compatible personality types.
After leaving a career in investment banking, Jessica spent a year traveling and researching personality dynamics, which inspired the creation of So Syncd. The app, co-founded with her sister, Louella, aims to make dating more meaningful by focusing on deeper connections rather than superficial matches.
She holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Bath.
Here is a complete list of RSVPs to LTR Edition 33
* supporting sponsors of LTR
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• Barry Rhein, Creator, Dating Through Curiosity™ *
• David Wolfe, CEO, RealMe *
• Jeffrey Tinsley, investor, RealMe *
• Joie Rhein, co-Founder, Dating Through Curiosity™ *
• Michelle Sisson, Project Manager, Dating Through Curiosity™ *
• Neil Davis, Chief Business Officer, RealMe *
• Peter Christopher, Founder & CEO, Together Light *
• Amanda Ortiz, COO, Flare Events
• Amit Gupta, co-Founder & CTO, TrulyMadly
• Armen Grigoryan, Founder, The Fun Singles
• Bec Chamberlain, CEO, Hunny Christian Dating App
• Bruno Adami, CEO, Umatch
• Carmelia Ray, CEO, Carmelia Ray Consulting & Matchmaking
• Cayo Syllos, co-Founder, Umatch
• Charlie Dominguez, Founder & CEO, ChkM8
• Daniele Antoniani, Advisor, Courtland Brooks
• Dennis Hefter, Founder, TruuBlue
• Dmitry Lutchking, former CMO, Wamba
• Duane Dahl, former CEO, PerfectMatch Group
• Eddy Ankrett, President, Dating Agency Association
• Edgars Podnieks, Owner & CEO, Suggie
• Eric Leonhard, dating coach
• Grace Leighton, Founder, The Heart Matchmaker
• Joanna Cook, Founder & CEO, Turnip
• Kate Gould, Director of Marketing & Technology, Brotherton Holdings
• Ken Thomas, CEO, Bond Club NYC Matchmaking
• Lisa Wilke, COO, Sameera Sullivan Matchmakers
• Liz James, former Founder, PinkSofa
• Matt Paoli, Founder & CEO, Flare Events
• Mitch Alterman, co-Founder & CEO, Hatched
• Nancy Slotnick, former CEO & Founder, Matchmaker Cafe
• Nevine Coutry, Founder & CEO, PlayDate
• Priyanka Seghal, Founder & CEO, Sparkles Dating
• Radha Patel, Founder, Single to Shaadi & The Auntie Network
• Rob Fisher, Director of Product Development, Pink Triangle Press
• Robin Helmreich, Product Owner, LemonSwan
• Sergey Sigitov, co-Founder, Unison
• Shalini Singh, Founder, Andwemeet.com
• Shang Koo, former CFO, Jiayaun.com
• Simon Newman, CEO, ODDA
• Steve Dean, Strategic Advisor, Courtland Brooks
• Tammy Shaklee, Founder & President, H4M Matchmaking
• Timothy Sexton, Founder & CEO, DNARomance
• Vanessa Panes, Founder, Singles Events Manila
• Viktor Cindric, Director of Design and Optimization, First Beat Media
• Vladimir Zoric, Director, First Beat Media
• Yanar Evdokimov, co-Owner, Pilot Group
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This event was special and memorable, marking the 20th anniversary of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com, which began in June 2004.
We celebrated with an engaging lineup of speakers.
Dan Ariely, renowned author and professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, captivated the audience with insights from behavioral economics.Â
Jim Safka, former CEO of Match.com, provided an illuminating discussion on the growth of online dating and its challenges. Daniel Salmon, partner and head of U.S. Internet at New Street Research, offered a comprehensive industry analysis and explored the exciting applications of AI in dating.
Spark Networks is moving into a period of overhaul and growth with new owners. Mark Brooks interviewed the head of growth to hear more about their plans. Following that we were treated to an overview of what we call the 'premium international dating' industry by noted academic Professor Julia Meszaros who has conducted studies of this lesson known but sizable niche within the dating industry. Â
In the latest edition of our series, we were treated to insightful presentations from two of Southeast Asia's leading figures in the dating and matchmaking industry. Alex Tam, the CEO of Paktor, captivated the audience with his presentation titled "Beyond the Swipes: Declining Marriage Aspirations and the Future of Paktor." Following Tam, Violet Lim, CEO & Co-Founder of the Lunch Actually Group, took the stage to share her experiences with "Sustaining a Matchmaking Business in 6 Countries." Lim's presentation was a masterclass in navigating the complexities of expanding a matchmaking service across diverse cultures and markets.
Rakesh Yadav, AdTech and Performance Marketing Manager for TikTok, shared insights on how dating companies can succeed on TikTok. In his presentation, he debunked misconceptions about TikTok, emphasizing its diverse user base beyond dancing videos. Neil Davis, CBO of RealMe, delved into the dichotomy of dating safety as a cost or revenue opportunity in his presentation. He challenged the conventional view of safety as a mere expense, suggesting that prioritizing it can lead to increased user engagement and revenue.
See event page here
The CEO of Truly Madly, a leading Indian dating app, was our featured interview. Snehil Khanor gave us insights on the Indian dating market, and how Truly Madly has evolved to be a leader in this challenging growth market. Then we heard from the former CMO of AnastasiaDate on how he created and executed a sizable innovative marketing program. Â
See event page here
For LTR26 Mark Brooks interviewed the Founder / CEO of Social Discovery Group, Dmitry Volkov, who is an active investor and acquirer of dating apps. Dmitry's group bought Cupid Media for $51m, for example. Then we heard from the Founder / CEO of Hornet, Christof Wittig, on the topic of misconceptions with metrics. How metrics can lead us to make bad decisions in dating. We had 51 RSVPs for the event, including 25 CEOs of dating companies. Â
See event page here
Your host, Mark Brooks, presented at LT`R25, giving an overview of trends and opportunities for growth for the dating industry. He drew opinion from data from New Street Research, Data.ai, and Morgan Stanley. Then we had an esteemed author, Professor and celebrity love coach from seasons 6, 7, and 8 of Married At First Sight, Dr Jessica Griffin. She just co-authored a book "Relationship RX" with Professor Pepper Schwartz. Dr Griffin talked about research-based strategies and effective tools for couples on reality TV and in real life.
See event page here
In July 2023 we had the pleasure of Shweta Khajuria presenting an overview of trends in the dating industry. Shweta is MD of Research for Evercore ISI, a leading investment bank and analysis company. Shweta covers the dating industry, and speaks frequently to the press, and advises investors. Then we heard from Aaron Jacobs who is a patent attorney who has defended Muzz against Match in the past. He gave us a really insightful and useful set of advice and education on how to consider patents, with specific advice on some specific patents.
See event page here
At this LTR we celebrated the tenure of a panel of long term CEOs in the dating space. The Ten Year Club recognizes IDEA members who are active in the industry and have served the dating industry for ten years or more.   We invited a diverse group of CEOs, representing a couple centuries of experience to a panel gathering at this LTR. We discussed how they overcame specific growth challenges during their tenures.
See event page here
Every so often we like to run a startups event to showcase promising startups in the dating space. For this startups showcase we featured three diverse dating companies, and their CEOs. We chose Smitten, Feels and Nuit. Smitten is fun. Feels is oh so human. Nuit brings us love from the stars. All three apps are doing well, and Smitten and Feels have raised money successfully. Subscribe to OPW.news to stay up on their news.
See event page here
Our most popular event yet. We had 62 RSVPs from leaders of dating companies {37 of them CEOs}. No wonder, we had the father of the modern mobile dating industry speaking. Joel Simkhai started Grindr which started the mobile dating industry in earnest. He spoke about his new app MOTTO.  Then we had Dan Salmon, Principal at New Street Research overview their latest report on the dating industry and key trends.
See event page hereÂ
Professor Paul Dolan is a behavioral economist from the London School of Economics. He has an affinity for the dating industry. He wrote the book Happiness By Design and spoke at LTR 20 about how dating apps can work with academics. Then we had an overview of the Real Gifts platform by the CEO of Real Gifts and Reflex Media, which also operates Seeking. Ruben Buell is a dating industry veteran.  Â
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
At edition 19 we had the pleasure of Geoff Cook and Carmelia Ray presenting. Geoff, who is the CEO of The Meet Group, and co-CEO of ParshipMeet Group, presented on innovation and made some really interesting observations about the nature of the arc of innovation. Carmelia Ray is a celebrity matchmaker from Mom vs Matchmaker, and gave us some insights on "the future of content marketing, social selling, and brand recognition through TV and media."
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
Edition 18 was focused on one topic. Influencer marketing is a hot topic. Fitness focused dating apps are doing a good job with influencer marketing. We invited the CEO of Datefit to speak and he was kind enough to give us an overview of how he does influencer marketing, along with some of the idiosyncracies of the channels he is working with.
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
Our 17th edition was focused on Asia, and was set on Asia time for a change. The CEO of Paktor, Alex Tam, spoke about how Paktor has brought Asia together, and their various offerings. Delbert Ty is the CMO of Coffee Meets Bagel and spoke about dating industry maturity. Mark Brooks then held an extended Q&A, and covered topics such as influencer marketing.
See invitation site here: shows speakers and attendees
Dr Haluk Akin gave us an overview of how to manage multiple dating products with unified technology. Dr Akin is CEO/Founder of the 'meaningful relationships' focused dating service in Turkey: Pembe Panjur. Then Adam Cohen-Aslatei, CEO/Founder of S'More presented why community is so important for dating apps in the future.
See invitation site here: shows speakers and attendees
Paul Larsen has been focused on payment processing for 30 years now, and has advised the dating and social industries. He gave us a crucial update on new challenges, opportunities and a recommended list of providers for dating and online social communities.
See invitation site here, with attendees
Bill Alena gave us his and Dating Group's vision of the future for dating and social tech. specifically on how 'digital intimacy' will transform the space. Bill is Chief Investment Officer at Dating Group and actively acquiring and investing. We also had Courtney Kovacevich give us an overview of the Women In Dating initiative
See invitation here, with speakers and attendees
Hal Burg gave us an overview of how product placement works, and walked us through some examples in the dating and social space. David Siegel clarified on the meaning of Metaverse, and how it will warp and advance the way we experience social and dating. LTR online is now only 90 mins long. A networking session. plus two presentations.Â
This time we focused on interesting and inspiring startups. The CEO / Co-Founders of Fika, The Sauce and Himoon presented their founding and growth stories. Six co-founders in all. Denis Sandquist and Oscar Luo from Asian dating app Fika presented "How 'Real' is Better Than 'Perfect'". Emma Clark and Sachin Karia gave an overview of how they had integrated video profiles into The Sauce. Louis Dresse and Michael Couvreur from Himoon shared their founding story, challenges and vision.Â
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
At LTR 11 Geoff Cook, CEO/Co-Founder of The Meet Group gave us an overview of the creator economy and how The Meet Group is enabling companies to open up in one-to-many social/dating video. Then Neil Davis, CBO of The Real Me presented the year so far for advances in safety. We were then able to capture veteran Eddy Ankrett's personal story, and his thoughts on why the dating industry should work more closely with the matchmaking industry.Â
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
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All LTR events are diverse. LTR 10 was no exception. At LTR edition 10 we heard from the amazing Professor Pepper Schwartz on the science of matching.  Then Sean Lawrence from The Meet Group gave us an overview of how The Meet Group made video fun with gamification. Finally we got clued in some current issues and growth opportunities on Facebook and Instagram marketing with expert Dennis Yu, who formerly worked in the dating industry many years ago at Yahoo Personals. Â
We enjoyed a phenomenal presentation by Yu-kai Chou, a gamification and behavioral design master, and author of Actionable Gamification. Then Dr Timothy Sexton gave us an overview of how he is on a mission to use DNA to forecast 'romantic chemistry.' Finally, Simon Corbett and Mark Brooks introduced the calendar of IRL GDI conferences and LTR Summits in 2021-2022, an entire year of events pre-planned, and then interviewed each other about their involvement with the dating and social industries.
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
LTR Edition 8 welcomed author Jon Birger to speak about his latest book "Make Your Move" and the key relevant points for dating communities. Then Barbara Soltysinkska, the CEO of International influencer network Indahash, gave us the inside track on how to work with influencer networks.. Shauny Ullman then gave us an overview of her new service, Clean Bill of Health, (CBOH). There's a need for communicating covid status and other health information, and her platform is an example of one that fulfills that need.
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
Another sold-out LTR, we were super thrilled to hear Dr Helen Fisher, a powerhouse top-flight anthropologist with a long history in Internet dating. She is Chief Scientific Officer at Match since 2005, and is Senior Research Fellow at Kinsey Institute. Then Carsten Boltz presented on growth strategy. He's CEO of Online Personals Group with properties in 37 countries and a team of 160. Carsten is a member of IDEA Ten Year Club, Anthony Volpe, CMO at Tawkify, overviewed how Tawkify has done well despite the pandemic.
Gitte Bendzilla, the MD of public company, Spark Networks was interviewed by Mark Brooks about her 2 years at Spark. Alex Durrant, the CEO/Founder of Jigsaw talked about the rise and recent raise of Jigsaw. They just raised $3.7m. Henning Wiechers is a long term mega-affiliate in Germany who is an expert on the DACH market and he gave us the benefit of his insights on the DACH markets. All in all, another diverse and fascinating line up, enjoyed by a packed room of online community leaders and luminaries.Â
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
Edition 5 in Feb 2021 featured celebrity matchmaker Patti Stanger, a.k.a. the millionaire matchmaker. Patti produced and starred in "The Millionaire Matchmaker" for 7 years and is probably the world's most famous matchmaker. Geoff Cook gave us an overview of the vPaaS product which enables PlentyoffFish and is opening up to work with more dating and online social communities. Zach Zhleien is a startup CEO with a penchant for data and video, and gave us his thoughts on video dating.
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
Our 4th LTR featured noted conversions and digital design specialist Tim Ash talking through some fascinating pricing model designs. Ross Williams from White Label Dating appealed to the industry to work together more and gave some examples of lucrative ways to do that. David Minns of Platform Dating talked us through some of his extreme niche products and gave us insight on why the products work, and how well they're doing.
See invitation site here with speakers and attendees
LTR #3 was another landmark event. Harvard Business School's Professor Ashley Whillans gave us an overview of her findings from behavioral science on how our time can be used in a more personally fulfilling way. Dr Mari-Sanna Paukkerri, CEO of Utopia Analytics, shared how advanced language independent AI is being used for UGC review. Then Catherine Connelly, a notable long termer in the dating industry started her company at age 15, and has guided The Meet Group to it's current $360m a year.
See invitation site here: shows speakers and attendees
Once again, LTR filled to capacity within 72 hours of invitations being sent out. The CEO/Founder of Hornet explained how he transitioned Hornet from being a dating app to being an online social community. The CEO of RealMe defined how reputation data is making users safer. Professor Robert Metcalfe walked us through how we can measure consumer value. We also got a half hour networking session before and after the speakers session, so attendees could meet fellow industry leaders on small tables of six. Â
See invitation site here: shows speakers and attendees
The very first LTR online conference happened September 10th, 2020 and was attended by 99 leaders and luminaries (including 72 CEO/Founders of dating and online social communities). Professor Iyengar of Columbia University spoke about the Art of Decision Making. Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group gave us the inside-track on the rise of video. The Godfather of reality TV, Jon Murray, was interviewed. Â
See invitation site here:Â shows speakers and attendeesÂ
