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Janurary 17, 2011
Whether you are looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right, Pick MI Date is the newest buzz to hit the dating site world.
Dubbed as part game show and part matchmaking, PickMiDate.com has created a whole new way for Metro Detroiter's to meet other singles.
After launching just a few months ago in June 2010, founders of Pick MI Date, Erin Rose and Sean O'Brien, sent the first participants out on dates that following September. Since then, after a total of seven dates, five couples are seriously dating.
You don't have to be a genius to figure out the odds on this one.
The concept of PickMiDate.com was born from reports stating how crummy Detroit is for singles and dating.
Both Michigan natives, business partners, Erin and Sean, met back in the summer of 2009. From there, the discussion of Pick MI Date grew into a business plan that is now in full effect and welcoming for all to participate in.
"Feeling the pain of our economic climate here in Michigan, coupled with many of our friends saying online dating feels like a job or homework, we wanted to create something almost like a dating concierge service, while helping our local Michigan businesses," Rose and O'Brien explain.
Participating singles fill out a quick and entertaining survey and Erin and Sean take care of the rest, including the planning of the dates and even the paying!
As interactive as it is easy, PickMiDate.com puts 14 singles up on the site and allows the audience to vote for who should go out on a date. Not only does it engage the community but it promotes the local economy, as dates are only held at Michigan-based venues. Additionally, the entire tab is taken care of for the evening, making everyone a winner in this game.
To get involved, visit www.PickMiDate.com and register as a contestant or a voter. To be eligible for a date, you must be 21 or over and of course, single. To register as a voter, you have to be over 18 years old.
With the overall success rate of Pick MI Date at more than 50% and their promotion of roughly 60 Michigan-based venues, it's no wonder why this site is climbing in use and in popularity.
Not sure about a dating website just yet? Check out Erin and Sean's Top 5 Dating Tips:
1. Do something special for yourself, whether it is getting your hair cut, purchasing a new shirt, hitting the gym, etc prior to the date. This will boost your confidence and make you feel exceptional.
2. You own a smart phone, but you will look really dumb if you make it the priority during the date. That means NO texting, updating your Facebook status, or sending out Tweets during the date (especially about your date).
3. Have a drink or two, not the whole keg, unless your name is Lindsay Lohan.
4. Leave your baggage at home, unless your date is at McNamara Terminal.
5. Above all else, BE YOURSELF and BE CONFIDENT. If schizophrenia is diagnosed, pick a personality that you're happy with. Confidence is your best accessory. Even if your date isn't a love match, you never know what type of connection that person can be for you in the future.
For more information on Pick MI Date, visit:
http://PickMiDate.com
http://Facebook.com/PickMiDate
http://Twitter.com/PickMiDate
Pick the Ultimate Place For a First
Date
Bonnie Caprara
December 14, 2010
There's a lot that hangs on a first date, and aside from physical appearance, grooming and personality, one thing that can make or break a first impression is where to go, which is why we asked Erin Rose, co-founder of PickMIDate.com, to offer some suggestions.
"PickMIDate.com is online dating meets game show," Rose says. "It's like playing matchmaker with no strings attached."
Winning contestants of PickMIDate.com are treated to an all-expense night out that includes limousine transportation, dinner and an activity nearby or at the same location.
"In the winter, it's freezing outside, so you don't want to walk around or have to get in your car," Rose says. "And you want to go somewhere where it's relaxing. You shouldn't have to get all done up."
Previous PickMIDate.com dates have included dinner at Union Street and bowling across the street at the Garden Bowl, dinner and a jazz show at Cliff Bell's, and dinner at Dino's Lounge and a show at Go Comedy!
A first date doesn't have to be all about dinner.
"You could go to Eastern Market on a Saturday morning, do some shopping, and get breakfast or lunch at Russell Street Deli, Supino Pizza or Vivio's, which has amazing Bloody Marys," Rose says.
If you prefer to fall back on the comfort of friends on a first date, Rose recommends feather bowling and dinner at the Cadieux Café.
"Their mussels are amazing, and $5 gets you three hours of music on the jukebox," Rose says.
Culture freaks may want to stroll the galleries, enjoy a concert and grab a bite to eat in the courtyard at the Detroit Institute of Arts when it's open late during First Fridays.
Most importantly, Rose says it's important to have realistic expectations for a first date.
"We're not trying to get people married, but get them out, meet other people, and promote our downtowns," Rose says.
True Stories: The Adventures of Erin
December 10, 2010
Thank you to everyone who has participated in OCM Guest Blogger Week! (Bloggers & Readers alike). We are going to cap off this very successful week with a post from Erin & Sean from pickmidate.com. pickmidate.com is all about bringing community together. It acts as an online dating site (with a twist). The site strives to engage with their users as well as promote local businesses in the area. It's a great idea and anything that can help the revival of Detroit is A-OK with us.
Here it is:
True Stories: The Adventures of Erin and Sean.
The names have been changed to protect the ignorant (insert: Cousin Eddie and Catherine from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation).
Story #1
Erin (attending a business open house) was introduced to a woman (let's call her Catherine):
Catherine: "What do you do for a living?"
Erin: "I run the blog Positive Detroit and I am launching a new venture next month called Pick Mi Date, it's like online dating meets game show, while promoting our Michigan based businesses and downtowns."
Catherine: "I'm a business coach and the one thing I ask a client when starting a new business is ‘Who's your competition?"
Erin: "No one."
Catherine: Begins lecturing Erin about her "naïve" business thinking.
Erin: "My business partner and I created something that doesn't exist in the marketplace. Find me another business or website like ours that is doing what we are. There isn't one. We don't have any competition."
Story #2
Sean (attending a random event in Detroit) is chatting with a friend (let's call him Eddie):
Eddie: "I see you're always attending a lot of events and witnessing some neat things in Detroit. How do you get to do that?"
Sean: "(I get this question a lot and I always want to answer with ‘huh?")
"I do all these things because in Detroit, we have some of the most interesting people and coolest places in the world....and I want to surround myself with that."
Eddie: "Huh?"
It is a shame a camera was not handy to capture these Kodak moments with Catherine and Eddie. They both looked at us like we had 7 heads and 5 were on fire. This is what happens when you set trends, instead of following them. Once it catches on (i.e the tipping point), it extinguishes the flames and the 6 heads magically disappear.
This leads us to explain our business philosophy:
1. We will only create what is unique and original.
2. Being a niche lessons/eliminates competition.
3. Creating a business that is a solvent is far better for the greater good than recreating what already exists and attempting to do it better.
In June of 2009, we came up with the idea to create Pick Mi Date after reading two reports stating that Detroit was one of the worst metropolitan areas for singles and dating for unemployed men is extremely difficult. Coupled with the common theme we hear from our friends that online dating feels like homework or a job, we created Pick Mi Date. Pick Mi Date is a fun and interactive online dating site that engages the community (audience plays matchmaker/wins prizes), promotes our neighborhood business and downtowns (dates are only held at Michigan based businesses), while the entire tab for the evening is taken care of for the daters (eliminating the worry and hit to their bank account).
People ask us all the time, "How can you create a profitable business in Michigan's current economic climate." Our answer has always been the same "find a pressing problem that has a high demand for it to be solved. Then solve it." We know it sounds simple, but in practice it is a hard concept for most to wrap their heads around. Most people see a thriving business and want to duplicate it. They stumble on someone else's great idea already in practice and want to copy it. It's the path of least residence in their eyes. In ours, it's just short sighted.
Just like when Clark turns to Eddie upon his family's unexpected arrival and says, "If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised then I am now," we are surprised that more people are not getting out there, identifying problems (because we sure have them), and creating a business that provides an exceptional solution.
You can learn more about Erin and Sean by tracking them down at a local well and buy them anything that contains grapes, grains, rye, and/or hops.
You can find them online:
To learn more about starting a business that makes competition irrelevant, pick up a copy of Blue Ocean Strategies by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
The Gauge: What's Hot and What's
944 Magazine
November 2010
A version appears on page 3D of the Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010, print edition of the Detroit Free Press
Krista Jahnke
Q:How does PickMIDate work?
A:Each week, we're going to have seven guys andseven gals on the site. The audience will vote forwhich one guy and one gal go on a date. Thewinning couple gets an all-expense paid date at a Michigan-based business. We're working with places in the Woodward corridor, from downtown to Pontiac, and the daters get dinner, entertainment and transportation. Everyone else gets a group date. They get a round of four appetizers and drinks, depending on the restaurant. And audience members who pick the winning couple also gets prizes.
Q:Where did the concept come from?
A:For one, we love game shows. A lot of what the site is about is getting people out, but we also want them to discover Michigan businesses.We also wanted to do something for singles after reading two reports. One in the Huffington Post talked about how hard it is for unemployed men to date. Another on Forbes rated Michigan 34th out of 40 metropolitan areas for singles.
Q:When do the dates begin?
A:The site launched in June. The first date is Sept. 11. The voting for the first round of contestants begins Sept. 4 at 9 a.m.
Q:How do you screen the contestants?
A:There are two sections of the application. One is questions we only see, like their background and what they're looking for. A second set ispublic and that's what the audience will see and vote on. It's about 20 questions that point outtheir personality. Our goal is to get everyone out there.
Q:What's different about this and other dating sites?
A:With online dating, it often turns into homework. We wanted to create something almost like a concierge service. So you fill outthe questionnaire and then don't have to worry about planning or paying, everything is taken care of for you.
Karen Dybis
Time Magazine: The Detroit Blog
August 3, 2010
I'm all about boosterism. That means boosting Detroit up a little bit whenever possible.
That is why I'm introducing you all to Erin Rose (of Positive Detroit fame) and Sean O'Brien, the co-founders of a new business here called PickMiDate. The idea is support local businesses, promote Metro Detroit as an entertainment destination and maybe find a few soul mates along the way.
As Erin describes it, the Web site is a mix of a game show and an online dating site. Look, Michigan winters are ridiculously cold and seemingly endless. I'm all about finding a way to bring people together – romantically as well.
Some background: PickMiDate launched this summer after much prep work by the lovely Ms. Rose and Mr. O'Brien. Both are major Detroit boosters as well, doing what they can after full-time jobs to promote the city, its residents and its businesses.
Each week, contestants vie to see who will receive the most votes and be paired for an all-expenses paid date at a locally owned restaurant. They should have their first round of contestants ready this week.
Rose and O'Brien say it best: If you love the state of Michigan, your love affair with PickMiDate.com should be starting right about now.
Q: So, is Michigan for lovers?
A: No, Virginia is for lovers. Michigan is for cougars. Well, at least in the Upper Peninsula. We're talking about the cat...or, wait, what's the question again? Michigan is an amazing place and the people here are about as passionate as you can get...about the love of the state and for each other.
Q: What makes your site different than other dating sites?
A: Our site is online dating with a twist. We have taken the traditional online dating model and have turned it into a game show, where the audience determines the fate of the 14 contestants each week. The winning couple gets an all expense paid date that includes dinner at a local restaurant, after dinner entertainment, and transportation. Second and Third place receive a double date, 4th-7th get a group date, round of drinks and appetizers on us. You pick the winning couple and you win prizes as well! We also have weekly giveaways that are announced randomly through our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Q: Why start a business (even a virtual one) in Michigan right now?
A: We love game shows and getting people out to Michigan's coolest places. So, we combined the two, and voila...We got the idea for the site after reading two articles, one in Forbes listing the “Top Cities for Singles”, which listed Detroit as one of the worst cities for singles to mingle. The second article was in the Huffington Post and discussed how it is tough for unemployed males to date. We wanted to create something that is fun and interactive that would get people out, promote our local downtowns and local Michigan businesses. We understand that when funds are short, your social life/dating life takes a beating along with traditional dating venues.
PickMIDate is Hooking
Up Local Singles
Christina Hill
Jun 23, 2010
Real Detroit Weekly
For those of you spent Monday night watching the Detroit fireworks with dreams of setting off some fireworks in your love life, we have a site eager to help ignite your summer flame. The Detroit based website, Pick MI Date, mixes the joys of a game show with the excitement of dating while supporting local businesses.
Co-founders Erin Rose and Sean O'Brien understand the difficulties of finding a dateable pal. They were inspired to set up the site after hearing news reports on the unfriendliness of Michigan's single scene. Detroit ranked the worst on a list of cities for singles. ¨Every week, a set of seven guys and gals chosen by their "world renowned and jet setting team of ‘dating professionals'". Included in their dating profile are their names, ages, and their answers to the sites high intensity questionnaire.
The contestants are drilled on their humor- who defines your funny factor, Liz Lemon or your grandpa- as well as what they would use to describe their own ‘techniques'- are you Sugar Smacks O's or Banana Nut Crunch? ¨Registering on the site as a voter entitles you one matchmaking opportunity a week. It puts the dating lives of Detroit singles in your hands as you contemplate their Q&A's, deciding which two you feel would fit best together as a couple.¨
The site doesn't just hope to bring two couples together who fancy each other, they also fancy supporting local businesses in the area. They're working with MooseJaw, Urbane Apartments and Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company to help provide not only dating locations but also supply prizes for those who vote for the winning couples.
The website just launched June 10th and they hope to pair up their first lucky couple on a date in the beginning of July. Rose says the site already has raving reviews, "We have received several positive phrases, interjections and adjectives, such as: wow, very cool, awesome, wtf(?), suh-weet, where do I sign up?!, have you seen my pants?, and so on. So if you're trying to set off some sparks, head on over to PickMIDate.com , sign up, and let Metro Detroit decide the fate of your future romance.
Meet PickMiDate, a
Website Giving Dates as
Prizes
Jon Zemke
July 7, 2010
Imagine combining dating with a game show and local business promotion. Erin Rose and Sean O'Brien did just that and came up with PickMiDate.
"Sean and I were kicking around ideas and the idea formed in two hours," says Rose, co-founder of PickMiDate.
The web start-up allows singles looking for fun to vote on the best Q&A answers posted by fellow singles. The contest winners get an all-expenses paid date to a local downtown, such as Birmingham or Royal Oak or Ferndale. Voters will also receive some prizes.
"Our goal is to promote local businesses and local downtowns," says co-founder O'Brien. "If we grow, that's a bonus but we want to help local singles and local businesses."
The fledgling Birmingham-based start-up plans to focus on the suburbs along the Woodward corridor first. It hopes to spread to other nearby posh locales, such as Grosse Pointe, Northville, and Ann Arbor within the year.
Detroit Dating
Game--Pick Mi Date
Stacey DeLiso
June 20, 2010
Detroit Dating Advice: Examiner
Tired of online dating? I know I am, but there's a new way to date in Detroit. Online dating may have you exhausted, tired, and irritated but a brand new website has put a new spin on classic matchmaking. Pick Mi Date is an awesome new dating service in the Detroit area. Erin Rose and Sean O'Brien are the masterminds behind this clever new dating game. Pick Mi Date is a FREE online matchmaking service set to the tune of a game show. Rose and O'Brien both love game shows and decided to shake up the online matchmaking scene and stir some hearts in the process.
Anyone can join Pick Mi Date. You can join as a contestant or as a voter. Contestants are chosen by a Pick Mi Date panel to be featured on the website. Voters will vote for the two people they want to see go on a date together. The winners get an all-expenses paid date! The pair with the most votes will win an all expenses paid dinner at a local downtown area restaurant along with transportation and after dinner entertainment. Second and third place winners will win a double date with a round of appetizers and drinks. Fourth through seventh place couples will win a group date with appetizers and a round of drinks. The contestants will be asked to complete a profile answering questions about likes, dislikes, and personalities. Profile questions will be made to spark interesting answers and have a different twist to the typical profile or personality evaluation. Contestants are encouraged to rally for votes through Twitter and Facebook. Even voters who voted for the winning couple will also get a prize! How cool is that!?
Pick Mi Date partners with local business owners to promote small and local businesses in the Metro Detroit Area. Promoting these businesses along with sending dates to these establishments they may not have known of or otherwise tried, is a great way to support and network locally. Rose and O'Brien know that in today's economy, dating is something that many people put on the back burner due to money constraints. Dinner and a couple drinks alone can cost more than $100 for one night. Pick Mi Date is helping to solve the problem of financial anxiety over going on a date, worrying if ‘he' will pay or if ‘she' will order the lobster.
This is a unique, super cool way to meet new people and go for a nice night on the town. Most of us don't like game playing while dating, but I have a feeling this game will be the one to play.
For more information or to sign up to be a contestant, or a voter, check out Pick Mi Date's website. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter as well. If you are a local business owner wanting to get in on the Pick Mi Date magic, you can contact them here.
Singles Get Mingling -
PickMIDate.com Has
Officially Launched
June 10, 2010
Well it's about time Erin Rose and Sean O'Brien.
The founders of Michigan's own PickMiDate.com - a Web site that fuses a dating game with lots of love for the mitten state - finally launched the long-awaited project last night after perfecting it for close to a year.
I first met this Oakland County-based duo, creative business partners who hail from Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge respectively, last fall. I found their take on the realm of online dating to be a fresh idea, one that had the power to revitalize the metro Detroit social scene.
In brief, here's how PickMIDate works:
Singles, 21 and over, can log on and register to date. They'll be asked a series of questions throughout the process and then placed in a specific dating pool on the site's homepage. Registered voters will then cast their votes to determine whom each dater should be paired with to take a date where dinner, transportation and more are covered. Voters will have one week to rally and pair off couples online as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Those who are already coupled-up need not feel left out. You can register as a voter and be eligible to win prizes. Learn more at PickMIDate.com or send email to 411@PickMIDate.com.
Why do I know so much about this? Well, in the interest of full disclosure I wrote this Metromix story a few months back. And Erin and Sean often stop by Urbane Space to hash out ideas and work on the site, which was artfully crafted by Core 3 Solutions in Birmingham.
PickMIDate was also featured among just a handful of Michigan-based startups at Detroit's first-ever TECHCocktail event in April, helping spread the word about this innovative effort that not only helps singles find their perfect match, but also urges Michiganders to explore the best of what this state has to offer.
Follow all the action @PickMIDate on Twitter and find them on Facebook. Singles - get ready to meet your match.
PickMIDate: Find a Date
& Support Local Business
April 15, 2010
Do you like game shows?
Do you like to support local businesses?
Do you like to play matchmaker?
And finally ...
Do you like squirrels ?
I have no idea what that last one means, but if you simply answer any of the preceding questions with apparently any answer, then the folks at PickMIDate might something nice in store for you. PickMIDate aims not only to help Michigan singles hook up on dates, but also to help local businesses at the same time.
"Each week, the contestants who gain the most votes, will receive an all expense paid date at a locally owned restaurant, transportation included!
The audience members who cast their vote for the winning couple will also receive cool stuff.
Random prizes will also be given away... depending on our mood."
One of the big trends recently has been highlighting local businesses with sites like LivingSocial and Groupon. This takes that trend one step further by actually combining online dating with some local business love as well. It seems like the local business community will love this as well, as they can have fun during the online game and get some terrific exposure online and as well.
It seems like a very fun and lighthearted concept aimed at getting fun local folks together and to help support the local Michigan businesses. They are slated to go live very soon during the spring of 2010 but you can stop by and see em at TECH Cocktail Detroit.
Let's Play a Love Game
February 17, 2010
Detroit Girls About Town
As much as you love your family, the home cooked food and pinches on the cheeks (that make you feel like a kid again), there's always been one problem.
The inevitable pry into your love life and attempted setup with the nice fellow who you went to school with and still reminds you of the second grade.
Sean O'Brien and Erin Rose know how you feel, and they are going to make sure you never feel that way again because the Detroit duo is launching Pick Mi Date, an internet dating game show, in mid-April. On the site, local singles can register for a blind date where the tab is picked up and the only thing to worry about is discovering each other and the hidden gems of Michigan (but for now just Detroit, Birmingham, and Royal Oak). However, you don't have to be single to get in on the picking, those who wish not to date can register as a voter.
Pick Mi Date will select the location, and the voters will select who you will go on a date with. Voters who pick the couple that gets the most votes will win a prize.
It's a love game everybody can play. And hopefully one you can play for keeps.
Pick MI Date:
February 4, 2010
By Stephanie Angelyn Casola
Special to Metromix
