Item — HN Reader

Here is the Iron Helmet Games dating website. In development soon. (Angels needed!)

An online dating site where you put your money where your mouth is.

Guys and Girls review each others profiles and rather than making contact and trading a few messages, suitors buy "First Date Packages" and offer them to the people they are interested in (the target of their affections).

Dinner and a movie? Paddle boating on the lake? Perhaps a picnic in the park? Why not even go totally crazy and go skydiving!

Other suitors can see the offers made to people they too are interested in and can "bid" against them by offering a more impressive or more romantic package. (You want to attract the whales who have thousands to spend of really special weekend. Charter a yacht for example.)

As soon as "the target" accepts the offer, the suitor's credit card is billed for 75% of the date package, and the target is billed the remaining 25%. (The target must contribute to the date package price to ensure they participate and are serious.)

Site earns revenue by taking a slice of the price of each package. Once the site takes off, 3rd parties pay to have their romantic packages on offer.

Its a crazy idea but I think its cool for a number of reasons.

Geeks will like it because you get a lot of help making sure that first date is going to be interesting. You'll have the package all organized for you.

Girls will like it because when they go on a date they know where they will be going and it will be exciting. Chances are they choose from a list of interesting packages.

Go get em people will like it because both parties are jumping with both feet and instead of trading countless emails only to discover the other party is just not that interested.

Start your relationship off with a bang!

3 comments

>> Go get em people will like it because both parties are jumping with both feet and instead of trading countless emails only to discover the other party is just not that interested.

How on earth does this system help you determine whether the pair is interested in each other? It is only having one party bid on the other's proposed activity, which may or may not have anything to do with their actual personality.

There's also something a little slimy about having people 'bid' to win my attention. Income (and willingness to spend it impressing strangers) is not my primary criterion. It's not even in the top ten.

I like the concept a lot more without the bidding war.

So how do the couple collect their monies from you?

No, we collect the moneys from them, then pass the money on to a third party company that would be hosting them in their activities. Dinner at a restaurant, a picnic hamper ready and waiting, the yacht charter.

> Dinner and a movie? Paddle boating on the lake? Perhaps a picnic in

> the park? Why not even go totally crazy and go skydiving!

Those are all terrible first-meet, first-date ideas. From experience, I can say that you want something extremely public, from which you can extricate yourself quickly with minimal embarrassment. "Want to get a cup of coffee?" has been a standard for a long time for good reason.

No, thats exactly the point. Coffee is the boring lame idea that everybody else does. Take the emphasis off the other person, put in on the fun activities you will be enjoying! Start things of by _actually doing something_ with your Saturday afternoon!

If you need to do something else when you're meeting someone, that person can't be that important.

Having coffee is boring. The person across from you will make up for that if they are the one you are seeking. And if they're not, go sky dive - alone!

Coffee is effectively a metaphor for a highly public, time-limited meeting that either party can escape at any moment. It can be conveniently extended ("I'm could really go for a burger, you?") or aborted ("I'm sorry, I agreed to meet my friend in ten minutes, it was nice meeting you"). It's low cost, with no obligation to stick around to get your money's worth. It's not literal.

Paddling on a lake is not a safe, easily aborted situation.

Group events are where it's at. This is socially similar to meeting by networking through friends, even if you have few close friends, or boring ones.

I completely disagree with you. The only reason that you need opportunities to 'escape' is when you've picked a boring date such as drinking coffee. If you choose to go somewhere with somebody that is public, fun, and friendly - not a boat trip, mind you - then you are ensured no awkward silences, and even if the other person is super boring you'll have a good time.