System and method of matching professionals for networking meetings

• US 8,209,310 B1
• Filed: 09/26/2008
• Issued: 06/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Empire Consulting, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Empire Consulting, Inc.
• Inventors: Metcalfe, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Shahid
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lodhi, Andalib
• Application Number:
  US12/239,550
• Time in Patent Office: 1,369 Days
• Field of Search: 707/769, 707/790, 707/794, 707/E17.014, 707/E17.018, 707/E17.032, 707/999.006, 707/999.105, 707/705, 707/736, 707/802, 709/204, 709/218
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

A professional networking system and method that facilitates a meeting between two or more users of the system for the purpose of expanding the users'"'"' professional networks. Users are matched by the system based on one or more available meeting dates of each user, and one or more sought characteristics corresponding to one or more characteristics of the second user that the first user profile seeks in another user. The system does not directly reveal the characteristics of one matched user to any other user except certain basic contact information may be disclosed to another matched user to facilitate a meeting.

Claims

1. A professional networking system for facilitating meetings between users, comprising:

a computer system having

a processor;

a user database having a plurality of user profiles corresponding to a plurality of users;

each user profile comprises one or more user profile characteristics, one or more meeting parameters, and one or more sought characteristics;

the one or more user profile characteristics comprise characteristics of the corresponding user;

the one or more meeting parameters comprise one or more available meeting dates when the corresponding user is available to meet another user; and

the one or more sought characteristics correspond to one or more user profile characteristics that the user corresponding to the user profile seeks in another user;

an advertiser database including an advertiser profile for each advertiser, each advertiser profile having at least one benefit offered by the advertiser and at least one geographic location parameter representing one or more locations where the benefit can be redeemed;

a user matching function executable by the processor to match two or more users when the one or more available meeting dates of a first user profile of said plurality of user profiles matches the one or more available meeting dates of a second user profile of said plurality of user profiles and at least one of the one or more sought characteristic of the first user profile matches to a corresponding at least one of the one or more user profile characteristic of the second user profile by comparing the one or more available meeting dates of the first user profile with the one or more available meeting dates of the second user profile and comparing the one or more sought characteristics of the first user profile with the corresponding one or more user profile characteristics of the second user profile, where the first user profile corresponds to a first user of the two or more users and the second user profile corresponds to a second user of the two or more users;

a benefit matching function executable by the processor to generate a benefit list comprising one or more benefits by selecting one or more benefits of one or more advertiser profiles having the at least one geographic location parameter corresponding to a meeting location area of the two or more users matched by the user matching function; and

,

a match notification function executable by the processor to communicate over a network a match notification to notify one or more users of the two or more users matched by the user matching function, wherein the match notification includes the benefit list.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said user matching function comprises a second step match function configured to identify a second step match where one or more sought characteristics of the second user profile corresponding to the second user of the of the two or more users matched by the matching function matches the corresponding one or more user profile characteristics of the first user profile corresponding to the first user of the two or more users matched by the matching function, and

wherein said match notification function is further defined in that the match notification is communicated only when the two or more users matched by the matching function are also are identified as the second step match by the second step match function.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one meeting parameter comprises one or more available meeting times when the user is available to meet another user;

and wherein the user matching function is further configured to match two or more users when at least one available meeting date of the one or more available meeting dates and at least one of the one or more available meeting time of the first user profile matches at least one available meeting date of the one or more available meeting dates and at least one of the one or more available meeting time of the second user profile after comparing the one or more available meeting times of the first user profile with the one or more available meeting times of the second user profile.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one user profile characteristic of the one or more user profile characteristics is of a type chosen from the group consisting of:

(a) a geographic meeting area in which the user of the user profile prefers a meeting to be located;

(b) a business type corresponding to a type of business the user operates;

(c) a gender of the user;

(d) an advance notice requirement representing a time frame between notice of the meeting and an actual meeting date;

(e) a time of day in which the user prefers to meet;

(f) feedback rating calculated based on feedback ratings provided by one or more other users that had prior meetings with the user;

(g) a following-through rating calculated based on responses by one or more other users that had a prior meeting with the user of the user profile, wherein the response indicated whether the user followed through with plans made during a prior meeting;

(h) a referral network strength rating calculated based on a number of other users referred to the system by the user;

(i) a meeting count representing a number of meetings the user had during a predefined time period; and

,

(j) one or more referred users IDs representing users referred to the system by the user of the user profile.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the network comprises the Internet.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein two or more profiles of the plurality of user profiles comprise a user type parameter;

and the system comprising

a user type characteristic selection function executable by the processor to allow users corresponding to user profiles having the user type parameter being a second value to specify a greater number of sought characteristics than users corresponding to user profiles having the user type parameter being a first value.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein two or more user profiles of the plurality of user profiles comprise a user type parameter;

and wherein the one or more sought characteristics comprise a number of different characteristics; and

wherein the one or more sought characteristics comprise at least a first group of sought characteristics and a second group of sought characteristics; and

the system comprising a user type characteristic group selection function executable by the processor to allow users corresponding to user profiles having the user type parameter being a second value to specify, in that user'"'"'s profile, sought characteristics from more than one group of sought characteristics, and to allow users corresponding to user profiles having the user type parameter being a first value to specify, in that user'"'"'s profile, sought characteristics from only the first group of sought characteristics.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein two or more user profiles of the plurality of user profiles comprise a user group parameter, and wherein the user group parameter comprises one or more values representing one or more groups;

and the system comprising a group limiting function executable by the processor to allow users of a first group to be matched with only users of a predefined one or more groups.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more user profile characteristics of each the plurality of user profiles are private and wherein one or more private profile characteristics of a user profile are used by the user matching function to match users without directly communicating the private user profile characteristics to another user.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein two or more user profiles of the plurality of user profiles comprise a user type parameter;

and the system comprising a geographic scope function executable by the processor to allow users corresponding to user profiles having the user type parameter being a second value to seek snatches in a broader geographic region than users corresponding to user profiles having the user type parameter being a first value.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein

the at least one sought characteristic and the at least one user profile characteristic of each user profile each comprise a user preferred geographic meeting location area;

and

the system comprising a geographic match function executable by the processor to generate a geographically matched advertiser list of geographically matched advertisers comprising one or more advertisers from the advertiser database by comparing the at least one geographic location parameter of the advertiser profile with the user preferred geographic meeting location area of each user of two or more users matched by the user matching function; and

wherein the match notification includes in the benefit list only benefits offered by advertisers that are found on the geographically matched advertiser list and wherein the benefit list includes the advertisers corresponding to the benefits listed.

12. The system of claim 1, comprising a feedback function executable by the processor to communicate a request to at least one user of the two or more users matched by the user matching function to input one or more feedback parameters for at least one other user of the two or more users matched by the user matching function, and

to request the input a predetermined time after the two or more users matched by the user matching function are scheduled to meet, and to store the input in the user profile of the user receiving feedback.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one user profile of the plurality of user profiles comprise one or more undesirable characteristics;

and

wherein the user matching function has an exclusion function executable by the processor to exclude a given user of the plurality of users from matching with an another user if the another user profile has a user profile characteristic matching an undesirable characteristic specified in the user profile of the given user.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sought characteristic comprises a geographic meeting location area;

and

the system comprising a last minute meeting display function executable by the processor to display on a user personal page a list of one or more last minute meetings with one or more users of the plurality of users which occur within a predefined time of a present time and within the geographic meeting location area of the user profile corresponding to the user personal page; and

wherein the user matching function comprising a last minute meeting scheduling function executable by the processor to last minute match the user who selects a last minute meeting with another user who requested the last minute meeting; and

wherein the match notification function is further configured to notify users last minute matched of the last minute match.

15. The system of claim 1, comprising a parameter frequency calculating function executable by the processor to calculate a parameter frequency value for the one or more sought characteristics corresponding to a frequency that users within the system have chosen the a given user parameter as a sought characteristic.

16. The system of claim 15, comprising a parameter frequency display function executable by the processor to display a meeting parameter input interface, and to display in the interface one or more parameter frequency values corresponding to the one or more sought characteristics to enable the user to specify the one or more sought characteristics that enable an increased likelihood of a user match.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising a near match function to nearest match a third user of the plurality of users with a fourth user of the plurality of users when a match is not made between the third user and the fourth user and a user profile characteristic of a fourth user profile corresponding to the fourth user is within a predefined deviation range from a value of the corresponding sought characteristic of a third user profile corresponding to the third first user;

and

wherein the match notification function is further configured to communicate to the third user the nearest match and to inform the third user that the match is the nearest match.

18. The system of claim 1, comprising a characteristic suggestion function executable by the processor to communicate to at least one user of the plurality of users one or more alternative sought characteristics or alternative values for sought characteristics to increase a likelihood of a match.

19. A computer implemented professional networking system for facilitating meetings between users, comprising:

a processor;

a memory comprising at least a user database and an advertiser database;

the user database having a user profile corresponding to each user;

each user profile comprises one or more user profile characteristics, one or more meeting parameters, and one or more sought characteristics;

the one or more user profile characteristics comprise characteristics of the corresponding user;

the one or more meeting parameters comprise one or more available meeting dates when the corresponding user is available to meet another user; and

the one or more sought characteristics correspond to one or more user profile characteristics that the user corresponding to the user profile seeks in another user;

the advertiser database including an advertiser profile for each advertiser, each advertiser profile having at least one benefit offered by the advertiser and at least one geographic location parameter representing one or more locations where the benefit can be redeemed;

a user matching function stored on the memory and executable by the processor to match two or more users based on one or more meeting dates and at least one sought characteristic by comparing the available meeting dates of one user profile with the available meeting dates of another user profile, and comparing the one or more sought characteristics of the one user profile with the corresponding one or more user profile characteristics of the another user profile;

a benefit matching function stored on the memory and executable by the processor to generate a benefit list comprising one or more benefits by selecting one or more benefits of one or more advertiser profiles having the at least one geographic location parameter corresponding to a meeting location area of the two or more users matched by the user matching function; and

,

a match notification function stored on the memory and executable by the processor to communicate over a network a match notification to notify one or more users of the two or more matched by the user matching function, wherein the match notification includes the benefit list.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one benefit offered by the advertiser is a coupon.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein each advertiser profile comprises at least one value added parameter;

and wherein the benefit matching function is further configured to generate the benefit list comprising one or more benefits be selecting benefits corresponding to the one or more advertiser profiles having a value added parameter corresponding to at least a predefined one of the user profile characteristics of at least one of the two or more matched by the user matching function.

22. A professional networking system for facilitating meetings between users, comprising:

a computer system having

a processor;

a datastore including a user database and an advertiser database;

the user database having a plurality of user profiles, each user profile comprises one or more user profile characteristics, one or more meeting parameters, and one or more sought characteristics;

the one or more user profile characteristics comprise characteristics of the user;

the one or more meeting parameters comprise one or more available meeting dates when the user is available to meet another user; and

the one or more sought characteristics correspond to one or more user profile characteristics that the user corresponding to the user profile seeks in another user;

the advertiser database having one or more advertiser profiles, each advertiser profile having at least one benefit offered by the advertiser and at least one geographic location parameter representing one or more locations where the benefit can be redeemed;

programming code on the computer system for creating a match between two or more users based on one or more meeting dates and at least one sought characteristic by comparing the available meeting dates of one user profile of the plurality of user profiles with the available meeting dates of another user profile of the plurality of user profiles, and comparing the one or more sought characteristics of the one user profile with the corresponding one or more user profile characteristics of the another user profile;

programming code on the computer system for generating a benefit list comprising one or more benefits by selecting the benefits of one or more advertiser profiles having the at least one geographic location parameter corresponding to a meeting location area of the two or more users of the match; and

,

programming code on the computer system for communicating over a network a match notification to notify one or more of the two or more users of the match, wherein the match notification includes the benefit list.