Looks like someone (maybe me) made Sam angry. I've never seen Sam angry. I didn't think that was possible. He's the happiest guy on earth.

I am talking about 12-36 months from now. Not today. Right now, some in the industry are riding high. Congrats!

I am learning an awful lot preparing for this event.

The adult industry, some of the most aggressive marketers around, are now honing in on your business. That is a fact. They will want market share first. Free is an obvious option. These are not boy scouts of the internet, but Gordon Gekkos.

As for some free sites seeing declines in traffic, that is in part due to increased competition. Badoo, a site out of nowhere, in year one gained 10% market share in Germany. Germany had 3 solid market leaders.

And Markus, please bring your Vader helmet with you to Miami You can sit on the final panel and answer with a James Earl Jones voice
You can say "You have failed me for the last time!"

Marc Lesnick
Conference Organizer
Online Dating Convention

PS: I loved Markus Frind's blog comments. Yes Markus, it does clearly appear to me that the person starting comments about scamming is actually the pot calling the kettle black.

Free Online Dating and Its Effects to Be Discussed at the Miami Internet Dating Industry Conference on January 19-21, 2011
Dec 01, 2010 09:39 ET

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 1, 2010) - Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. announces the 8th Annual Internet Dating Conference will cover the potential long term fiscal effects of the free online dating business model in the industry.

iDate2011 will be on January 19-21, 2011 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. As the largest event for the online personals and matchmaking industry, attendance includes owners and executives from online dating businesses, matchmakers, dating software suppliers, mobile application providers, marketing companies and others.

The free business dating model has been in the industry since its origins. Startup operators typically use free subscriptions as an enticement to increase their user base. The business model changes to paid subscription once the user base exceeds a certain level.

In recent years, some free-based dating sites have grown exponentially with increased market share. An industry debate has arisen; between a coexistence of the free and paid business models versus fiscal challenges within the next 12-36 months for the paid market.

iDate2011 Miami will include sessions on various free business models and also suggest possible best defenses to retain a paid customer base.

The conference also contains 2 separate pre-event sessions on January 19:

* An Introduction to the Online Dating Industry
* A Matchmaker Session for the Offline Match Making Business

The conference also includes the Social Media Conference, taking place the same days. Those that register to one event are able to attend both.

The goal of the Internet Dating Conference over the last 7 years has been to provide dating industry executives education, ideas, insight and networking to identify new technologies and increase revenue opportunities.

For more information, please visit iDate2011.com.

Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc.
Marketing and Logistics Representative
Internet Dating Conference
Tel /Fax : USA +1 (212) 722-1744 ext 71

Media Relations:
Mark Brooks
Online Personals Watch
Tel: USA +1 (212) 444-1636
Fax: USA +1 (520) 844-1636

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, particularly as related to the business plans of the company, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by these sections. Actual results may differ materially from the company's expectations and estimates.

This is a really interesting debate, but there will always be an imbalance between paid and free listings and this is why one will tend to thrive more than others. It's interesting to see the success of some of these paid dating sites though, but a free dating site doesn't have to be measured against this yardstick because essentially it's competing in a different market. I know sites like POF advertise out to other paid sites and agencies and with Google's Ad Choices I think, but the conversion of these free members to paid, there must be enough of the market who are unsure about whether paid or free options are the right choice and success for them.

If you look at a more local or macro dating site - say by geography like Lovestruck then paid options seem more prevalent due to the niché categories and areas. But in terms of the larger dating sites I'm not sure about the level of service and offerings on some of these services. I personally think the big marketing campaigns has switched the balance more to paid, but at the same time it's opened up dating as a whole and more people now seem to be into internet and online dating than ever before.

In conclusion I think there'll always be an element of both and in times of recession I'd be surprised if the paid options take as big a share as they should.