As most of you know if you have been following along with me week to week, the Matchmaking Institute held our International Conference at the end of April. I am thrilled to announce that it was the most successful conference that we have had to date!
The weekend was more than just an educational conference; it was a movement.
Over 110 matchmakers and date coaches arrived from all over the world not knowing what to expect, and immediately started connecting with each other. They jumped right on board our mission to spread love around the world.
What I quickly realized (which was really key) was that the Matchmaking Institute’s mission to spread the love is not something that I could ever run like a business. It truly is a movement that I could feel developing with all of us in the room. That weekend it became clear to each one of us that our job is more than just the business of matching people up, but a legacy that we are actively creating.
As individuals in the love industry we can deeply touch a huge amount of people and change their lives. We are helping to create generations that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. By banning together and sharing our knowledge, our influence will become that much stronger.
Since I know not all of you could attend the conference (although I urge you to attend in 2015 if you are interested!) I thought I would share two highlights from our expert speakers.
Dr. Helen Fisher:
We had the great honor of my colleague and dear friend Dr. Helen Fisher speaking at our conference. Dr. Fisher is an author, anthropologist, and the genius behind the chemistry.com and match.com matching systems.
Dr. Fisher touched on the idea that most people actively search for the key to having a healthy relationship, and being able to maintain that relationship long term. She went on to explain how there is a part of the brain that allows people to look at the positive traits that their partner has rather than their negative ones. It is as if they become blind to the faults of their partner, or at the very least have short-term memory for the negative. They only see how great they are, and focus on the things that they admire about that person.
We are all so programmed to look at why someone is NOT right for us rather than to see why they ARE right. All humans come with imperfections, and if we could all reprogram our brain to see the positive in others (partners, lovers, or even friendships) we would be able to create that positive reality for ourselves and for those around us.
Julie Ferman:
Julie Ferman, who is one of my long time friends, has been part of the matchmaking and date coaching industry for over 25 years. Longer than us all! Her presentation at the conference, to my delight, turned out to be related to the whole theme of the weekend—collaboration rather than competition. Julie reinforced that when we look at the world in terms of scarcity rather than abundance we become fear based. But when we look at it in terms of abundance suddenly the pieces of the pie get larger and larger.
Julie divulged to everyone that when she first heard about the Matchmaking Institute 10 years ago she thought that we might be creating competition between matchmakers, which would be negative for the community. Once she came to the first conference a year later, she was blown away by the environment of love and sharing and totally got into the collaborative spirit. Since then her business has been better than ever. She has collaborated nationally and internationally with others in the industry, which has benefiter her in more ways than she could have ever imaged, or done on her own.
This collaboration is what our conferences are all about.
I could go on and on about each of our speakers and how they blew me away, but what I want you to know is that the love industry is continuing to boom, and that there are people out there that are passionate about love and are in it for the right reasons. Those who are open to sharing, collaborating, and spreading the love are the ones who will be in it for the long haul, and are the people who help our community continue to grow stronger then ever.
If you are looking to find a matchmaker in your area click here and we will help connect you to someone!
