Match.com today announced one of the most significant online launches for America's 80 million single people with the premiere of Happen Magazine (www.happenmagazine.com) -- the first and only online magazine focused exclusively on dating and relationships. Offering unique, original and provocative editorial content, the magazine is masterminded by Editor-in-Chief Janet Siroto, who comes from executive editor positions at Redbook and Cosmopolitan.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030909/MATCH )
Happen Magazine will take on the single lifestyle in all its complexity, providing support and insights through first-person reports, humor, service-oriented features, interactive elements, and contributions from award-winning writers and journalists. With 15 million Match.com members having access to Happen, the magazine starts with the potential to have more readers than Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Maxim combined.
"As its name implies, Happen Magazine will play a powerful role in Match.com's goal of helping people make something happen in their lives," said Janet Siroto, editor-in-chief of Happen Magazine. "It is a great resource for the 15 million people who are part of the Match.com community, as well as for all those looking for 'real world' advice and unexpected and sometimes irreverent viewpoints, plus addictive, pop-culture-driven dating stories. Happen will be independent-minded with its own unique editorial perspective."
Happen Magazine will include regular features such as the Profiler, where a select Match.com member's profile will get an expert "makeover," as well as LoveScopes, horoscopes with a love twist for people in various stages of relationships. In addition, the online weekly will offer lifestyle articles about food, movies and their role in romance, updates and news from the intersection of love and science, and much more. Highlights of the debut issue are:
-- An exclusive interview with Bachelorette Jen Schefft as she nears her final rose ceremony.
-- The author of He's Just Not That Into You, Greg Behrendt answers this week's question in the weekly Q&A.
-- Check, please: The New York Times writer Steve Friedman wonders why guys always pay for dates, and he suggests a new arrangement. Plus: Happen Magazine's panel of experts share advice for romance-boosters on a budget.
-- The Perils and Pleasures of Dating a Player: Natalie Krinsky, author of the upcoming book Chloe Does Yale, helps you decide if it's worth the risk.
-- The 10 Best Moments in the History of Dating -- and the 10 Worst: An opinionated timeline.
-- The Weight Debate: A discussion about honesty in online dating profiles, how to manage expectations, and how big a deal being big really has to be.
"Our members have told us that what they value most is our advice, counsel and insight into building successful, emotionally rewarding relationships," said Jim Safka, CEO of Match.com. "Through Happen Magazine, we are providing content for both women and men that rivals any lifestyle magazine -- and far surpasses what any other relationship site has to offer."
As editor-in-chief of Happen Magazine, Siroto brings more than 20 years of editorial experience honed at such popular magazines as Redbook, Family Life and Cosmopolitan. Siroto has lined up a talented and diverse group of writers and contributors for the magazine, as well as an eclectic panel of experts to provide overall editorial direction and guidance. These advisors include Dr. Jane Greer, noted psychotherapist and author of How Could You Do This to Me? Learning to Trust After Betrayal, and Veronica Chambers, author of When Did You Stop Loving Me?, Having it All: Black Women and Success, and writer for Esquire, Girlfriends and The New York Times.
In celebration of its debut, Happen Magazine will be available free of charge until April 2005. After that, highlights of each issue will be available free to all Internet users, with full access available by subscription or included as part of a Match.com subscription.
About Match.com
Happen Magazine is a trademark of Match.com and the next step in the exciting and evolving category of online personals -- a category that Match.com pioneered in 1995 and continues to lead after a decade. Since its launch on the Web 10 years ago, Match.com has redefined the way people meet and fall in love and is credited with more marriages than any other site. Today, more than 15 million people around the world participate in the Match.com community, providing a rich tapestry of ethnicities, interests, goals, ambitions, quirks, looks and personalities from which to choose.
Match.com is the world's biggest online dating and personals property, according to the December 2004 global ranking of the Personals category by industry-leading independent measurement firm comScore Media Metrix. Number one across North America and Europe, Match.com operates leading subscription-based online dating sites in 32 countries, in 18 languages and spanning six continents. Match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Europe, Asia, the United States, Australia (NineMSN) and Latin America and is the premier provider of personals for Love@AOL. Match.com is an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI).
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SOURCE: Match.com
CONTACT: Liz Entwistle of Match.com, +1-214-576-9321, or
liz.entwistle@match.com
Web site: http://www.happenmagazine.com/
Web site: http://www.match.com/