As you know, we’re working on a completely new way to meet here at Engage. Anyone who’s single can use the site to get handpicked matches, decide who they want to meet, and get introduced. Anyone who’s not here to date can use the site to introduce their fave single friends to new and exciting singles about whom they have a great feeling.

Our introductions are 100% people-powered. That means everyone can cut through the fakey personals shtick, let your hair down, be yourself, and actually meet real people who fit your style and sensibilities. Plus, you get to look for people with friends by your side. So there’s always someone here to give you a much-needed reality check — and to help decide if someone’s both into you and worthy of your affections.

Carving out a whole new approach to meeting and dating is exciting and challenging and, we confess, a lot of work. But you’re worth it, dear readers. We have a friend crush on you and we want to see you with someone just as amazing as you are. So, because we heart you that much, we’re constantly tinkering behind the scenes — listening carefully to your feedback and funneling it into brand new improvements all over the site.

To that end, we recently made some more updates that you’ve been asking for. Here are the highlights… of course, you should really sign in and try them for yourself.

The biggest change we’ve made recently is a whole new way of organizing the site:

- Your matches tab - Where the magic happens for you if you’re single. Handpick matches for yourself, review matches that others have picked for you, decide who you want to meet. And meet them. Simple!

- Play matchmaker tab  - You can pick matches for friends, vote & comment on friends’ matches so they can narrow the field, and make quickie intros. What’s next is up to them!

- Profile - We heard what you said about editing your profile, so we’ve corralled all your key personal info and preferences in one place. Edit away!

- Other improvements - Now you can also more easily access your inbox and do searches to find cuties for yourself and others. You can also use our Friend Finder tool to look up pals who are already members of Engage.

So the site’s ready and waiting for ya. We can’t wait to see who you meet!

xo,

Engage

Our recent Sex and the City survey results are popping up in articles all over the blogosphere. The Baltimore Sun’s BaltAmour blog concluded our survey results showed how “the sexual double standard” persists.

The MaconLove blog thinks “the show gave women greater confidence and equality. It showed that world that it’s OK to be an assertive woman that can ask for — and get — what she wants.”

While sites like the Hampton Report, Great Dating Services, and the M2W conference blog reported how SATC changed women’s attitudes towards dating, Slackmistress stands up for “NerdGirls” who didn’t find Sex and the City so revolutionary, because they were already used to different dating practices. (Although maybe this is one of those “exception proves the rule” situations?)

Thanks again for sounding off in our survey. We’ll keep you posted on the next opportunity to share your thoughts and weigh in on topics that impact social dating.

“Oh Canada!” Our very own VP of Love, Trish McDermott popped up on Calgary Today with Mike Blanchard. Download the show from SendSpace and listen to Trish’s expert opinion on the state of online dating and relationships. Pretty savvy, eh?

Jennifer Chowdhury, over at SheKnows, interviewed me last week for a piece about how Engage is borrowing from social networking practices to build a next-generation social dating community.    Check it out.  

Meanwhile, over at More, Sherry Amatenstein mentioned Engage in a piece looking at how children of single moms can get involved, or too involved depending on your perspective, in their mom’s dating lives.

Finally, at Reuters Blogs, Belinda Goldsmith posted about the Engage Sex and the City research.

Happy Reading!

Trish McDermott

VP of Love, Engage

The Sex and the City movie is coming out soon. And that made us curious. How has Sex and the City changed dating and socializing? Tell us what you think.

When HBO’s Sex and the City first aired, back when I was VP of Romance and resident dating expert for Match.com, two dating cultural shifts quickly emerged.

Single men, generally from urban dating markets, began to complain to me that single women had become not only like men in their attitudes about sex and commitment, but actually worse than men.  Men who hoped to form a lasting relationship with one special woman felt that almost overnight single women became a lot less interested in commitment, as social license to play the field and focus their dating energy on having fun in the here and now had suddenly been granted. 

SATC didn’t reflect most single women’s dating lives as much as it influenced them.   For better or worse, women began to liken themselves to SATC characters in their online dating profiles, describing themselves as “Carrie Bradshaw like” seeking their own Mr. Big, or in a “Samantha Jones period” in their current approach to dating.  Even a very young Lindsay Lohan suggested that the Sex girls had influenced her to play the field and play around.

SATC, along with the introduction of dating reality shows like ABC’s The Bachelor, also began to socialize dating.  Suddenly everyone was talking about the dating choices  others make and learning vicariously through them.  Was it OK to break up via post-it note?  How young of a man can a somewhat older woman get away with dating?  Who was really right for someone and by what criteria?  We hired Alex Michel, ABC’s original Bachelor, and took these sometimes heated conversations about dating on the road.  It was an eye-opening experience, as dating choices became mainstream conversations in the workplace, among family and neighbors, at parties and at every event I attended with Alex.  We were all dating voyeurs.

The SATC phenomenon ultimately led me to leave Match and help launch Engage.  We built a social dating community at Engage where singles invite friends to help them make romantic connections through  suggestions, voting on possible dates, setting up introductions and post-date debriefings, much as the Sex girls have done over all these years.  Even if most of us can’t afford a pair of Manolos, all of us can benefit from the dating advice and insight of our best friends. 

Aly Walansky wrote more about my SATC experience in her SheKnows blog.   Vote on whether or not you think SATC had a negative influence on women’s lives over at PopSugar. 

See you at the Sex and the City movie! 

Trish McDermott - VP of Love, Engage  

For inside news and thoughtful commentary about the online dating industry, we love to read the Online Dating Insider. That’s why we were excited to sit down for a Cupidcast interview as part of Online Dating Insider’s weekly podcast.

Have a listen to Suneet Wadhwa, CEO and co-founder of Engage, and Trish McDermott, our VP of Love, as they discuss social dating and Engage’s way of bringing singles together through their social connections.

Thanks to everyone who came out on Monday night to Harlot in San Francisco for our Love 2.0 kickoff for Web 2.0 week. Turnout for the event was astounding. Close to 500 people joined us to get social, talk technology, and mingle with elligible singles and their attached matchmaking friends.

Update: Check out bub.blicio.us for great coverage of the soiree — including photos of many of the lovely single people (and their involved friends!) who turned out to make it such a fun night.

Also: See our flickr stream for more pics.

Engage has been busy this week with the exciting Web 2.0 conference in SF! After a fantastic turnout on Monday night for Love 2.0, we were out last night sharing T-shirt love to all the conference attendees hopping in the South Park Crawl. We handed out Engage t-shirts to folks as they were hopping in between ZoomProspector @ Gallery 16, IBM @ Jack Falstaff, Leverage Software, Federated Media Publishing @ Nova, Yahoo! Brickhouse, Adaptive Path, ESVCA @ Andrea Schwartz Gallery. We had a blast connecting with everyone and the shirts seemed to be a hit. Not one left!

What are you up to Monday night? Meet up with Engage!

Love 2.0 - Socializing the Dating Experience at Web 2.0 Expo 2008

Who: Fabulous Singles and Their Friends Who Love Them

What: A Monday night kick-off event and videos throughout the week at Web2.0 Expo 2008

Where: Harlot, 46 Minna St., San Francisco, http://www.harlotsf.com/

When:  Starts at Harlot on Monday night, April 21^st at 8 pm

When: That’s Monday - yeah - in like 3 days.  If you’re single, involved but love your single friends, or interested in meeting the coolest people in tech, you’ll make the time!

Why: Because we believe in Love and Technology!

PLUS - Don’t miss The TechSet interviews of the best and brightest SINGLES in social media sponsored by Engage throughout week during Web2.0 Expo - including Pete Cashmore, Stephanie Agresta, Tara Hunt, Willo O’Brien, Audbrey Sabala