Tila Tequila ushers in reality TV on Woome
Speed-dating site turns 'dating intros' into new form of entertainment
There may be new stars in the making at Woome. The speed-dating site recently launched Woome TV as a way to display the 100,000 to 150,000 video introductions across various sessions - like Nature lovers in San Francisco - conducted on the site daily. After a month of launching it, Woome TV now has 40,000 video introductions to watch publicly, according to Woome CEO and founder Stephen Stokols.
In this video, Stokols gave me a demonstration of Tila Tequila, who became famous from MySpace and is now a host of MTV's "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila." She's meeting some random guy for the first time. These video intros are so popular that they're attracting 15,000 views a day. Not a bad start for Woome TV. And, it certainly raises the question of whether there's some programming that can be created around this content.
Apparently, MTV thinks so. Or at the least, there's potentially an interesting marketing campaign that can be done on Woome. Tila's peeps reached out to Woome to test out the platform. There's no formal partnership with MTV, just yet. But both sides are talking, said Stokols. Additionally, artists and agents are reaching out to Woome to launch marketing campaigns, whereby members of Woome can "Meet the band."
Video introductions are private, unless both parties agree to make it public.
It used to be that such meetings were intimate, private affairs. But based on what's available on the Internet, introductions are pretty innocuous.
Bambi Francisco Roizen
Founder and CEO of Vator, a media and research firm for entrepreneurs and investors; Managing Director of Vator Health Fund; Co-Founder of Invent Health; Author and award-winning journalist.
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WooMe is an online speed dating platorm that leverages cutting edge in-browser voip and video technology to enable users to meet new people in a fast, fun and free fashion. Meet five people in five minutes in live topical speed sessions such as "Vator.tv lovers in Los Angeles."
WooMe brings the speed dating craze online and extends it to let users meet new people live in fast, fun and free speed sessions. There are no long forms or lengthy profile descriptions, simply find a session that interests you and meet 5 people in 5 minutes. Or, create your own sessions based on your interests, such as "TechCrunch Readers in San Fran". Invite friends or strangers to play with you and immediately decide if you are woo'd by someone. WooMe's in-browser video and voice capability delivers a live interactive experience where users play for fun, to hook up, or just meet new people around shared interests. There are no tedious profiles, no software to download, and best of all it's free.
Backed by Niklas Zennström's (Skype Founder) Atomico Investments, the original investors in Skype (Mangrove Capital), and Klaus Hommels (Europe's Investor of the Year, 2006), WooMe is catapulting the $1 billion+ speed dating market into the online world. With WooMe, meeting people online is transformed into a live interactive experience that makes sifting through contrived profiles a thing of the past.
Founded in 2006, WooMe's management team has experience in bringing innovative web applications to market for companies including: AltaVista, CMGI, BT, Accenture, Qwest, Shopzilla, Trilogy. Stephen Stokols, Co-Founder/CEO, successfully sold an internet start-up and went on to become BT's youngest VP, growing their eCommerce revenues over 300% to over $1bn in his first 12 months. George Berkowski, Co-Founder/Product Director, brings extensive technical and marketing experience in the online space and in outer space (he played a role in sending the first tourist to the Space Station).