Y!RB Brain Jam: Elizabeth Churchill, Elizabeth Goodman (Yahoo!) - Getting Online to Get Offline: From Matching to Meeting in Online Dating October 18, 2007

*** NOTE THE DIFFERENT DAY AND TIME - Thursday at 4:15, not the regualr Friday 3pm slot ***

Free and open to the public, followed at 4pm with a Social Jam that includes refreshments - and beer. It would be helpful if you mark attending/watching above.

Getting Online to Get Offline: From Matching to Meeting in Online Dating

Elizabeth Goodman, Elizabeth Churchill (Yahoo! Research)

ABSTRACT
Matchmaking has moved online. More and more people seek romantic partners using specialized dating websites and open social spaces. After identifying potential partners on the Internet, “online daters” invest considerable time and money in face-to-face meetings that involve emotional and physical vulnerability. Currently, online dating services have optimized the “matchmaking” component of online dating services without addressing the potentially nerve-wracking process of planning a first date. This talk will address the work of planning and arriving at the first date.

BIOs

Elizabeth Goodman's writing, design and research focus on the intersections of technology, the social sciences, and interaction design. Currently a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Information, Elizabeth studies the relationship between mobile technologies and the experience of place. Previously, she examined the role of mobile technology in health and wellness as a design researcher with Intel User Centered Design. Elizabeth has been a visiting lecturer at the San Francisco Art Institute, and has exhibited in New York, Paris, and San Francisco. She has a master's in interaction design from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, as well as a BA in Art from Yale University.

Elizabeth Churchill is a Principal Research Scientist at Yahoo! Research working on social networking, social computing and social media. Originally a psychologist by training, for the past 15 years she has drawn on diverse areas to consider how to design effective communication situations-- both face to face and technologically mediated. Influences on her work include psychology, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, architecture and film studies. Applications designed, developed and/or evaluated include cell phone interfaces, social content storage and routing applications, textual and 3d graphical virtual environments, social annotation systems, interactive digital posterboards and animated interface personas. Her most recent work considers the augmentation of social spaces with community generated digital content. More information about Elizabeth can be found on her website, elizabethchurchill.com

Official Website: http://whyrb.com