Biz Buzz: Zogo wants you dialing for dates

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The next big thing beyond Internet dating could be Zogo.

Zogo, which has an office and 10 employees in Saddle Brook, uses cell phones to foster the future of dating.

The idea is simple: You use your Web-enabled cell phone to quickly find potential dates, instead of spending days sending computerized text messages. The first step is to scroll through personal listings that include background information and, of course, photos.

Zogo's technological innovation allows a woman to accept a call on her cell phone from a guy and have a conversation, but the guy doesn't get her phone number unless she agrees to give it to him.

"The phone call is the brass ring of dating," says Zogo Chief Executive Jonathan Ressler, 41, who lives in Montclair. "You can have a conversation and really know if there is a chemistry."

You can register for the service at www.zogo.com. It's free now, but there will be a charge in the next few months.

This may sound a bit far-fetched, but consider Ressler's background. He founded Big Fat, a New York marketing company focused on the young crowd. And in 1992 he invented the Human Bowling Ball, a game in which people strapped inside a 4-foot ball are rolled towards six-foot high pins.

-- David Schwab