About us
Here is the history of this site:
Part I: AreYouMyWife – Fed up with internet dating sites
July 24th 2006 to September 6th 2007
The internet, huh?
Banking, yes. Shopping, definitely. Browsing and research, of course. But actually trusting the internet to find a soul mate? All the dating sites I tried had blunt interfaces, questionable membership schemes and I didn’t like the idea of putting myself – or others – in tick-box driven databases combed by match-making robots.
But could I do any better using the internet?
I tried a very simple experiment to remove barriers: I started a blog called AreYouMyWife? I put my picture, phone number and email up for all to see, and just wrote a story. My story. That’s all – straight forward, no flashy design, no gimmicks … no limits.
Anyone could ask me out, anywhere in the world, or alternatively offer help in different ways. At worst, if I didn’t meet that someone special, I would chalk up some amazing life experience. At best, I could meet someone amazing. AreYouMyWife was a win/win proposal.
Well, my story grew beyond my wildest imagination as people everywhere wrote themselves in. Suddenly the internet was an exciting and honest place not only to date, but to open new doors onto friends, adventures, ideas, opportunities and self discovery. Here’s what happened:
Video: The AreYouMyWife Story
(Video player not appearing? Click here)
Download this video (use right click, “save as”):
iPod | QT movie
Part II: OurUltimateDate – Let’s take our time, and build the proper foundation
September 6th 2007 to September 6th 2008
As the story threads grew into a thick rope, the obvious question got asked: when would AreYouMyWife stop? Truth is, I didn’t know. The thought of a deadline or a stop-point seemed like a good idea, but certainly not something desperate or weird like “be married within a year.” I wanted to take my time, and do things right.
So I announced that by the one year anniversary of AreYouMyWife I would stop – wherever I was in the world – and consider: Did I feel ready to go to the next level with someone I had met? The Ultimate Date would be the product of myself and someone else; a new joint adventure, perhaps.
I did indeed ask a wonderful woman named CeCe out on the Ultimate Date. And to us it meant this: Close down AreYouMyWife (but continue telling a story), live together for a year, pay bills, hold down regular jobs, all the while working towards three dreams as a team. If we could do that as a couple, we could do anything, and the “?” in AreYouMyWife? could go away.
Over that year, and throughout many challenges, CeCe and I did indeed achieve our dreams in roundabout ways. Then, while on holiday in my home town of Montreal, I took CeCe to Mount Royal shortly before her 30th birthday and got down on one knee. She said yes.
We returned to London on September 6th with lots on the horizon… CeCe is starting a new job, I am confident in my current role, and after a year of slogging, one of CeCe and I’s dreams will take flight….
Part III: AreYouMyPartner – A whole new story
October 2008 to present day…
“Partner” can mean a whole lot of things: Travel friend, confidant, business partner, partner in adventure, lover, potential spouse… It all depends on what kind of story you live, what kind of question you’re asking, and who you want to write themselves in.
Here’s what’s happened so far….
22-Oct-2008: Open to take ideas
To give AreYouMyPartner the same promising start as AreYouMyWife, I opened up a new blog and asked the world to tell me what they would want, and wouldn’t want, on a dating site. Everything was open to debate, and based on those discussions, a volunteer web team designed and built:
Jan-2009: Initial beta 1.0 launch
To be sure we are on the right track, we wanted to test a beta 1.0 site behind closed doors using real people. Beta tester volunteers came from all over the world, and based on their feedback and ideas, we compiled a list of changes and amends to make to the site. That list was given to the web team. But then…
Sep-2009: Trusted the wrong people and REBOOT
For eight months we were assured by the web team that a beta 2.0 site would be ready… soon. And for months we waited, only to find out they weren’t really working on it. Our dream, it seemed, was too big for them to handle. So currently we have a new plan for AreYouMyPartner:
Nov-2009: Crowd funding site
We put it back to the people, to see if we could raise £48,000 by Valentine’s day to pay professionals to create our site – we were aiming to raise the funds through donations, sponsors or investors. But then…
Jan-2010: A whole new direction
A new opportunity has arisen which we are currently putting into place. As soon as there is more news, we will update this site.
