Helping People To Follow Up On Chance Meetings

Cool new web application: blinka!

We’ve all experienced the frustration of meeting someone we’d like to see again—romantic or otherwise—but not knowing how to find them later. Now, for all those occasions there's blinka.me, which aims to give users a second chance to reconnect.

Currently in beta, New Zealand-based blinka.me offers a way to find those we've met just fleetingly at a bar, airport, conference or event, even if we don't know their phone number, email or name. Working on the basis of what it calls "moments"—specific times and places in which a meeting took place—blinka.me uses patent-pending technology to match up the people who met. Users begin by entering the details of their moment, including what happened and something about them and the person they'd like to reconnect with—"you tried to buy me a drink," for example. It's up to them whether to make the moment private or share it with other users, friends and followers to help get a match. Either way, if the other person involved enters the moment as well, both parties get an email notification. The two can then have a safe, private chat through blinka.me and decide if they want to pursue it further, including sharing profiles and personal contact information.

The site's founders explain: "We can see a language and culture developing around this—for instance, you see an old colleague at the airport but are rushing to get to your gate so you say, 'hey, blinka me and we can connect and catch up.' It works because you’ve run out of cards and you don’t remember his name! At a bar you see the girl of your dreams but you're too nervous ask for her number so instead you just say, 'hey, blinka me and maybe we can catch up later'."

blinka.me's challenge, of course, will be creating enough awareness of the site to make it likely that both parties in an encounter will enter the moment. Toward that end, the site's five-person team is currently seeking others interested in working on the project. One to get involved in early...? Check it out: www.blinka.me