Hudson Gazette
January 24, 2007
In a world of increasing demands on our personal and professional time, the challenge of finding The One can seem almost insurmountable. Online dating services may work for singles that have the time and patience to sift through hundreds of profiles and risk disillusionment with less-than-truthful dates, but for those of us too busy to waste time on a fruitless search, Positive Connections (www.posiconnections.com) offers a welcome alternative. “We are not a dating service,” emphasizes Positive Connections owner and founder Milene McKenny, author of the upcoming book, What About Love? “We’re really looking to maintain a certain level of integrity with this program,” she adds. “Our members share a common desire for a long-term, committed relationship. ”Potential Positive Connections members are first screened by phone to determine whether they’re serious and as they say they are. Next is a one-on-one commitment-free interview and information session with an experienced member of the Positive Connections staff.
Once they join, every Positive Connections member completes a computerized personality assessment questionnaire, which is reviewed by a psychologist. Next comes an hour-long one-on-one session with that psychologist, during which members gain valuable insight into different personality types and their own strengths and weaknesses.
Each Positive Connections member then undergoes personalized interactive professional image and style coaching on the niceties of dressing for that first impression, etiquette and the social graces, such as making conversation and cell phone manners. “They’re taking away knowledge that can help them with their jobs, with their social lives, and for their own personal selves,” says McKenny, who adds that even active daters will learn something through Positive Connections.
“A lot of people come to us and they’ve been in long-term relationships for years. They married their high school sweetheart, and now they’re single because of death or divorce, and they’re terrified. They don’t know what it’s like to go on a date anymore.”
Positive Connections executives consult their membership database for compatible matches and arrange introductions. “If there was no strong connection, we schedule the next introduction,” McKenny says. Thirty percent of Positive Connections introductions end up in connections. “We can guarantee there will be at least 50 percent compatibility, so at least they will have a nice time,” she adds. “No one can predict chemistry. You can only know it when you’re actually sitting across from the person.”
Consultations with Positive Connections executives are by appointment only, but McKenny and her team have the flexibility to work around their clients’ schedules. For more information on Positive Connections, visit www.posiconnections.com or call 514-697-5010 (1-877-969-5010 toll-free).
