Archive: Around Town

It’s a boy! Catchmakers is celebrating the upcoming birth of the first baby to be born to a couple that met through its service. Catchmakers is an Ithaca, NY-based online dating service that serves residents of the central New York and Finger Lakes regions exclusively.

According to Catchmakers Inc. co-owners Carole Schiffman and Meredith MacLeod, the couple, who asked not to be identified, met through Catchmakers in August 2008, and began building their relationship and life together shortly afterward. He’s from the Binghamton area and she’s from Ithaca. The baby boy is the first child for both of them, and is due right around Valentine’s Day.

Schiffman says, "We’re thrilled! Stories like this are why we started Catchmakers. These are two busy, single professionals… an assistant professor and an attorney who were focused on their careers and probably never would have met, but both knew they were looking for love. They took a chance on it through Catchmakers’ service, and the chance paid off. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and joy!"

Schiffman and MacLeod founded Catchmakers in 2007 as a local online dating service for career-minded individuals.

"This is wonderful news for our clients!" MacLeod says.  "There are a lot of people just like them who are leaving the region partly because they think they’ll have a better chance of finding a life-partner elsewhere. We have an abundance of small cities such as Syracuse, Binghamton, Ithaca, Elmira, Corning, Aurora, Geneva, and Cortland that serve as college towns and are home to organizations requiring skilled professionals. These communities are close to each other geographically, but their residents, and their community lines are often disconnected."

Catchmakers is different from other online dating services in several ways. Catchmakers is based in Ithaca, and serves only the central New York and Finger Lakes regions. Membership in Catchmakers is open to anyone who is 21 or older, versus age 18 for most other online dating services. The general public cannot view profiles on the Catchmakers website. Eligible adults can post a profile for free, but only paid members can search other profiles, which provides an extra level of security. Members communicate with each other through Catchmakers’ secure encrypted. E-mail system.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, Catchmakers is also offering some tips to people who are interesting in finding romance online:

• Do post a recent photo of yourself. Make sure it clearly shows your face, and make sure you’re smiling. People who don’t post photos are unlikely to be contacted.
• Be positive. Write about what makes you unique and why you like the things you like. People are attracted to other people who have positive attitudes.
• Honesty is the best policy. Think how you would feel if you were unpleasantly surprised the first time you met someone.
• Always meet for the first time in a public place with other people around.
• Be open to meeting new and different people. You might be very compatible with someone who has hobbies or interests that are different from yours. You may also find a cool new hobby!
• Be proactive. Don’t wait for others to contact you. Contact other members and introduce yourself.

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