24 -- Feb 14 -- A singles service, Meet Market Adventures, organizes
gatherings and invites singles to sign up for them online. "We're not
really a dating service, so to speak," said Mark Smith, president of
the company's Alberta franchise. "What we do is bring singles together
in a safe evening and they mingle among themselves." Meet Market
Adventures, launched five years ago in Toronto, and has 3,000 members
since it set up shop in Calgary six months ago. Mark Brooks, editor of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com
and a consultant to the Internet dating industry, said the number of
people visiting online dating sites in December 2007 was down 10% over
December 2006 (according to comScore). He said that doesn't mean the
industry is declining, but that the people who are still doing it are
serious about it. FULL ARTICLE @ 24 (page 8)