Comments on: idea exchange at 31,000 feet (and the death of the perfect stranger)

By: At My Knits End

At My Knits End — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 06:42:01 +0000

Sun Daily Tab

Airtroductions. Would you use a service that allowed you to pick your seatmate ahead of time? Interesting question. I like air travel because of all the uninterrupted time to read and knit. I usually have no interest in talking to…

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 22:20:55 +0000

Peter, no, exactly, this is one of your marketing questions, I guess. Do you emphasize the “in air” opportunity or the “airport” one. The former is more vivid and has to be your first move. But it does provoke that “what if this person is a kook” anxiety. In which case, the latter is a good companion proposition. Anyhow, good luck, this is a great idea. Best, Grant

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 11:12:00 +0000

Grant:

One thing to keep in mind re: advance warning – You need what, two hours to get through security? That’s your first meeting with your potential seatmate. If there’s a connection, switch the seat. If not, no harm, no foul.

Cheers,

-Peter

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 10:40:21 +0000

Peter, a flag is a good idea but I would rather have advance warning about who I am inviting to table. (I have a strict “no knuckle-head” policy.) And come to that, it’s funny how bad the clothing code is at communicating finer information. Thanks, Grant

Peter, spoken like a true child of Irving Goffman and exactly right. A lot of air travel is, for my money, much too much like kidnap. But even small interactions add value like crazy. I expect one of the airlines will someday pay you a bundle and buy you out. This is a big value add. I hope, incidentally, you are getting coverage in the airline magazines. It’s nice to think of people on a plane and ignoring the person beside them reading a story about people on a plane not ignoring the person sitting beside them. Thanks, and bon voyage. It’s a great idea. Grant

Decklin, you poor bastard, so your’re a Connecticutian (real word?), too! Grant

By: Decklin Foster

Decklin Foster — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 09:42:20 +0000

People here in Connecticut are dead set against exchange of most kinds. Products, no. Ideas, Lord no. Capital, ok.

*snicker* Ain’t it the truth.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 08:26:32 +0000

Grant:

Thank you for the nice words. The site, as you correctly point out, is not a dating service, but rather a way for people to escape the psychological hell of sitting next to someone they don’t know for extended periods of time. Look at it this way: Sit in the middle seat, surrounded on either side by people you don’t know, and it’s incredibly uncomfortable, correct? Sit in the middle seat next to one person you don’t know, but another person you do, and it’s no longer a middle seat! You’re shifted at a 15-degree angle the entire flight, talking to your new friend. There’s no “weirdness” about having to look straight forward for hours on end because you’re “too close” on either side. Watch how people interact with people they know – they naturally get closer, naturally turn in to them – that’s the promise of AirTroductions – making the flight better, easier, less stressful – if a date or some business comes out of it for the flying parties involved, all the better. And apparently, connections are being made – people only pay when they find someone on the flight they want to talk to – and people are paying.

Thanks again for the comments.

Best,

-Peter

By: Peter McB.

Peter McB. — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 04:00:48 +0000

I’ve long thought that single business travelers could do with some symbol or artefact (a small flag maybe?), which they could put on their table in hotel restaurants to indicate they’d be happy to be joined by others for a meal. Of course, many hotel bars serve food at the bar, and this is often a way to meet people, if you like sitting on a stool or high-chair to eat, and being surrounded by the noise of the bar.

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 20:22:05 +0000

Steve, you just have higher standards, I expect. I’ll talk to anyone. Except people who are stupid or cruel. (So, like, no sociologists.) Just kidding. Really, if it’s a dating service, it’s probably not a great idea. But otherwise, its brilliant. I am going to Denver shortly. We shall see! Thanks, Grant

By: Steve Portigal

Steve Portigal — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:04:13 +0000

Great piece in the NYT today about impending cell phone usage on phones and how it’s the last peaceful place there is…and how that peacefulness and freedom from interruptions can make it very productive time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/business/04cell.html?ex=1286078400&en=70ea3a44c99b2f86&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

This is an oft-discussed issue but the NYT piece is good.

And I wouldn’t be a good link-whore if I didn’t mention my own FreshMeat on the topic of mobile-phone-on-planes http://www.portigal.com/FM/fm24.htm

By: Steve Portigal

Steve Portigal — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:01:40 +0000

You’re kinder to the service than I was
http://chittahchattah.blogspot.com/2005/08/airtroductions-theres-something-in-air.html
…
AirTroductions is something I don’t quite get. How can this possibly survive? You can try to meet a new person online based on your travel plans; then arrange to sit together. Maybe they should just call it NeedyExtrovert.com or something. Let’s combine the hair-pulling ennui of a long flight with the tedium/fear blend of a blind date! It must be the Web 2.0!!!

I’d be very curious to hear from people who have tried this or would try this; my bias is very personal and I know there’s more stories out there than mine.