The online dating company that grew from start-up in 2002 to acquisition by industry leader Match.com in 2009 is giving an insider’s view of its path to success. People Media, the fastest growing company in the fastest growing segment of the Internet dating business, will be the focus of the keynote address on the opening day of iDate 2010, the Internet Dating Conference here from Jan. 28-30.
Company vice president Ron Worthy will share “The People Media Story” before an audience of more than 500 internet dating and social networking executives, the largest gathering of its kind.
People Media, Inc. ( www.peoplemedia.com ) is the No. 1 provider of targeted online dating communities for singles seeking meaningful relationships. Centered on critical relationship factors such as ethnicity, religion and lifestyle, People Media’s niche sites bring together large communities of people with unparalleled scale and focus.
A unit of Match.com, an operating business of IAC, People Media operates 27 individual web properties, reaching nearly 4 million unique users per month. Its portfolio includes six of the Top 50-ranked personal websites, as cited by comScore Media Metrix — more than any other company. These sites include www.BlackPeopleMeet.com and www.SeniorPeopleMeet.com , the top dating communities for their respective categories.
“People Media has experienced an incredible trajectory in its relatively short history,” said Ron Worthy, Vice President, People Media. “At iDate, we’ll review the chronological and strategic story of our growth, which is based on a number of pillars we consider essential.
“Verticalization, or a focus on key niches, is the core of our business,” Worthy added. “Interestingly, each of our top five sites resides in a different niche: ethnicity, lifestyle, physical, age and religion. That demonstrates, in a nutshell, the strength of targeted online dating, why we’ve been so successful, and why online dating overall is such a growth industry.”
Worthy was present at the creation of online dating as a business. He was the senior product manager with Community Connect, Inc. (now Interactive One, a unit of Radio One) where he launched several targeted dating sites including the dating vertical for BlackPlanet.com. In 2007, Worthy joined People Media to guide the relaunch of People Media’s portfolio of targeted personals sites including BlackPeopleMeet.com — resulting in 30% annual revenue growth for the site.
In his current role, Worthy oversees marketing programs, strategic alliances, and community outreach, including this past year’s Radio Date segment on the nationally syndicated The Steve Harvey Morning Show. Worthy earned a B.S. from Stanford University and an MBA from the NYU – Stern School of Business.
The 7 th annual Internet Dating Conference, set for Jan. 28-30 in Miami, focuses on management for the online dating and social networking industry. The event is designed to have experts illustrate opportunities that exist worldwide to improve business, generate new ideas, identify new technologies for the space, and increase web traffic and conversion rates. The two-day iDate conference consists of morning seminars and lectures, followed by afternoon workshops.
About People Media, Inc.
People Media ( www.PeopleMedia.com ) is the No. 1 provider of targeted online dating communities for attractive singles seeking meaningful relationships. The company operates 27 individual web properties – including www.BlackPeopleMeet.com and www.SeniorPeopleMeet.com – reaching nearly 4 million unique users per month. Its portfolio includes six of the Top 50-ranked personals websites, as reported by comScore Media Metrix – more than any other company. People Media has been a past partner with the Steve Harvey Morning Show and exclusively powers multiple AOL Personals communities. People Media is a rapidly growing innovator in the online personals space, which is expected to reach $1.2 billion in worldwide revenues by 2009 (Jupiter Research). People Media is based in Hollywood, Calif., and is a unit of Match.com, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI).
About Match.com
Match.com pioneered online personals when it launched on the Web in 1995 and continues to lead this exciting and evolving category after more than a decade. Throughout its 14-year history, Match.com has helped redefine the way people meet and fall in love. Match.com provides a rich tapestry of ethnicities, interests, goals, ambitions, quirks, looks and personalities from which to choose. Match.com operates some of the leading subscription-based online dating sites in 24 countries, in 8 languages and spanning five continents, as well as oversees its ongoing investment in Meetic. Match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Asia, Australia, the United States and Latin America. Match.com is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI).