Down4Lunch, the platform that allows professionals in varied fields to connect and network over a meal, just rolled out a new feature. Called a targeted lunch invite, the update allows users to invite someone specific to lunch instead of just waiting for a potential networker to find them on the site.
"People didn't think anyone was on the site," explains Jess Sadick, founder of Down4Lunch. "Now, when you log on you see dozens of other users." Currently, there are 800 Down4Lunchers in D.C. and 2,000 across the U.S. "People are using Down4Lunch in California, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Chicago," he says.
Down4Lunch trades on the idea that it's not what you know, it's who you know. Sadick thinks this adage is especially true in D.C. "Once you're in the door, it's what you know and how you perform," he states. "But the people here with the biggest rolodexes have the most success."
Potential lunchers create a quick profile on the site or log in with Facebook or LinkedIn. They provide some information about their industry, how far they are willing to travel for lunch, and the industries that they are interested in learning more about. Then they can create a lunch.
"With the targeted lunch invite, you can see the profiles of all the people who match you," Sadick explains. "You can invite them to lunch or favorite them to invite later. You choose the date, time and restaurant, and they can decline, reschedule or accept." The new feature sends the invitation out via email, instead of waiting for lunchers to log on to the site and see if they have pending invitations.
Sadick says that despite apparent similarities to myriad matchmaking sites, he has had no complaints. "No one has had any concerns about [Down4Lunch] turning into a dating site," he says. During profile creation, women are given the option to not meet with men, but he says "not too many" have opted out.
Down4Lunch is free for individual users. The site will generate revenue from restaurants advertising on the site, and, Sadick says, from the enterprise product he's currently developing. "We're working on a dashboard for companies to use. Getting workers outside their cubicles is in their best interest." The enterprise version should be ready by the end of the summer; Sadick has three organizations already lined up to test it out.