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It’s Just Lunch |
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Thursday, 25 June 2009 |
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Vancouver’s premier dating service for busy professionals How do you meet that special person with today’s busy lifestyle? Jacquie Brownridge, owner of It’s Just Lunch (www.itsjustlunchvancouver.com ), BC franchise, says the best way is through a matchmaker who can sit down with you and help you create a strategic, smart-dating plan.
 Jacqueline Brownridge, owner of It’s Just Lunch. “Our goal is to help people get out from their PDAs.”
Clients come from diverse backgrounds. There are doctors, lawyers, architects, professors, engineers, entrepreneurs and journalists. Successful professional people understand that they must be as proactive in their personal lives as they are in their professional lives. With more than two million people in the Greater Vancouver area, clients understand that, left to chance, they will come in contact with a limited number of these people. All have no trouble dating, but are not meeting the type of person they would like to.
“That is why It’s Just Lunch is so successful,” said Brownridge. “Our only reason for existing is to introduce professional people to each other in a comfortable, discreet manner. The sole purpose of the first date is to determine if they would like a second date.”
First, clients schedule a confidential interview with an experienced director.
“This interview is the first step and helps us get to know you and what you look for in a potential partner. We talk about what has worked for you in the past (and what hasn’t) and what your interests are. Then, if we have the type of people that you are interested in meeting and whom would be interested in meeting you, we take you on as a client.”
Working with upscale local restaurant partners, Brownridge arranges a time and day convenient for her clients and makes the reservation. The restaurant knows the couples are with It’s Just Lunch and chooses a private table, makes the introductions when the parties arrive and even presents separate bills.
“It’s easy. You just show up and have a good time,” said Brownridge.
The dates last about an hour—long enough to whet the appetite to make future plans to meet or to exit gracefully if there’s no connection. And privacy is assured, she explained. Only first names are given out and just enough detail to provide a few conversation starters.
“Our clients love it that there are no photos or personal information online. One of the reasons they choose It’s Just Lunch is to keep their private lives private. It’s up to the parties involved to exchange personal contact information if both decide to move in that direction,” she said. “Confidentiality is extremely important. Many of our clients are business people and in the public eye.”
“Our service is designed to take away the awkward moments. It’s meant to be easy and to be a more strategic approach to your dating life.”
People using her service are at the right place in their life. People are very busy. They work long hours, might travel with work, are involved with sports and volunteer activities and all of a sudden, the weekend arrives and they are without any social plans. These aren’t people who would normally hang out at a bar or nightclub so it just makes sense that they would take a proactive stance about their dating lives.
“These are people who outsource so many aspects of their lives—dating is no different,” she said.
Matchmaking is done based upon individual desires, goals and motivations. While her clients are looking for relationships that meet certain criteria, discussed ahead of time, she encourages them to keep an open mind.
It’s one of the reasons why people who are new to the area use her service. They can meet likeminded individuals who share some common goals and interests and expand their social circle.
Brownridge is a natural matchmaker. She met a couple one New Year’s Eve who had met through It’s Just Lunch and she became intrigued. She’d seen the service on Oprah, in airline magazines and other media outlets.
As serendipity plays a significant role in romance, it also played a role in Brownridge’s life. Shortly after that fateful New Year’s Eve, she learned the B.C. franchise was for sale as the previous owner had found love herself—in California. Despite there being multiple offers on the table, she was able to purchase the business — and hasn’t looked back.
In fact, earlier this year she opened an office in Victoria, a complement to existing operations in Vancouver, Whistler and the Okanagan.
Brownridge was very pleased to have Jane Carstens, a veteran Matchmaker with over ten years experience agree to oversee her Victoria location. “I was searching for a way to enhance my traditional matchmaking business, kind of revamp the model, make it more current when I was approached by Jacquie Brownridge of It’s Just Lunch.”Says Carstens”. “I was looking for someone to oversee the Vancouver Island client base” says Brownridge “and knew Jane would be great, she has all the right instincts, I have been following her career for years and I’d always thought that one day we should join forces”. “Earlier this year I had a chance to look at the It’s Just Lunch model closely”, says Carstens, “I knew it was something that would enhance the service I could deliver to my clients.
The number one comment I get from all my new It’s Just Lunch clients is that the dating process is so easy and stress free. We find you a date call you with a short bio on your date, schedule the date, set the location, and make the reservation: all my clients have to do is show up.”
Keeping an open mind is crucial in the dating scene, Brownridge notes, for example, you can be matched with someone who meets all your requirements in what you’re looking for in a partner, “however what we can’t always predict is chemistry. Conversely, we have seen many couples meet through IJL that on the surface would not be an obvious match but again, one cannot prejudge. That’s why we always encourage our clients to think outside of the box and take advantage of this opportunity to meet many interesting new people.” There are sometimes side benefits – while some people have met their special someone through IJL, others have made new friends and even business contacts.
It’s all about connecting people — our goal is to get them out from behind their computers and start connecting face-to-face,” she says. “We all spend far too much time on the phone and behind computer screens. |
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