Open Agency puts dating on Web

The Open Agency has designed the first on-line video dating website, BeOutThere.com, which encourages lonely hearts to send in a video to be broadcast on the Internet.

The site is retro in style and features bright, Web-friendly colours including turquoise and orange. It goes live in a month.

Open Agency managing director Mike Horseman says the consultancy set out to create a user-friendly, contemporary-looking site, and aims to attract users with the video facility. “Traditional dating agencies often portray their members as one-dimensional by making them fill out huge, impersonal questionnaires,” he says. “With a video, they can really be themselves.”

BeOutThere.com director Mark Southworth says the stigma of joining a dating agency still exists, but is less pronounced than it was. “People with busy lives still find it difficult to meet partners. BeOutThere is a conscious move away from the flowery, romantic image of old-fashioned agencies.”

The Open Agency has included an upgrade facility for when new video technology becomes available. It has also set up an intranet service so members can communicate with each other.