In The Press

Northern Virginia Magazine, July 09, 2020

Here’s A Look At Online Dating In The COVID-19 Era by Jess Feldman

Alot has changed since the coronavirus pandemic began. Face masks are now a must-wear wardrobe item, outdoor dining has become a prevalent aspect of American culture and singles staying at home have turned to online dating as a resource for companionship, conversation and, of course, romance.

Online dating has been increasing in popularity for years, being recognized as the most common way for couples to connect in 2017, according to research from Stanford University. Yet when the pandemic began in March, it became the only way singles could meet new people, whether through messaging, video Read more


Northern Virginia Magazine, January 16, 2020

An in-depth look at finding and keeping love in Northern Virginia by LISA RABASCA ROEPE

From dating across political party lines to tips to successfully finding a date, here’s everything you need to know about finding and keeping love in the DMV.


Looking for Love
Fun fact: The DC region has the highest population of single people in the entire country. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find a great date.

It’s not your imagination. There are more single people living in the DC metro area than anywhere else in the country. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 70% of the adult population is single—that’s 20% higher than any other region in the country. Read more


DatingNews.Com, September 26, 2018

Professionals in the City™ Has Shifted Gears to Run More Targeted Speed Dating Events in DC & Other Big Cities by Amber Brooks

The Scoop: In 1999, Michael Karlan founded Professionals in the City to help DC singles spice up their love lives. He used his networking skills and outgoing personality to create a fun-filled environment geared toward single professionals. Over time, these events grew in popularity and facilitated countless romantic connections. Today, Professionals in the City maintains a membership of over 200,000 professionals in the DC area. Its well-organized mixers, bashes, and speed dating events offer a targeted dating environment where singles can mix with people who meet their standards.

The best Read more


The Street, May 12, 2018

Luxury Dating Services Vow Facebook Won't Hurt Their Relationship With Couples by Xinyi (Ethel) Jiang

Luxury matchmaking services will 'have to retool and think about new creative ways to keep their customers' in reaction to an ever-more crowded online dating scene.

Matchmakers are betting their business that breaking up really is hard to do.

Facebook's (FB - Get Report) recently-announced entry into the crowded online dating market — a free service that will be operational in the "next few months" — is putting pressure on premium, offline services that attempt to match the perfect couple - at a price.

Such luxury matchmaking services will "have to retool and think about new cre Read more


DatingAdvice.com, January 17, 2018

Professionals in the City™ Gives Urban Singles the Opportunity to Mix & Mingle at Speed Dating Events & Parties by Hayley Matthews

The Short Version: Having trouble in the big-city dating scene? Then you might want to try adding a Professionals in the City event to your calendar. Since 1999, the company has thrown dynamic parties for singles and couples in Washington, DC, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Boston. Many Professionals in the City’s events target singles in particular age ranges, ethnic groups, or niche communities. That way, you can find your type of person more easily. The company’s speed dating events are particularly useful for busy singles who want to increase their odds of mee Read more


dcmilitary.com, February 15, 2015

So Tell Me About Yourself In Four Minutes Or Less by Leslie C. Smith

Feb. 15 is the unofficial holiday Singles Awareness Day and what better way to celebrate than a little speed dating.

Pros In the City is a premiere company in the area that creates event s to facilitate a opportunity for singles to meet and interact. Founder and president, Michael Karlan, created the company 20 years ago when he first moved to the area. “I wanted to create a sense of community for people and the whole concept of the company people having face-to-face interaction. You can meet someone online and you can email someone for a month but you really don’t know a person until y Read more


Arlington Magainze, October 27, 2014

Suddenly Single in Arlington by TAMAR ABRAMS

... Maurice*, 48, who is unmarried and lives in Virginia Square, certainly enjoys the panoply of lifestyle options close by. “Arlington has more things to do and more people available to do things with,” says the IT consultant, who grew up in Montgomery County and lived there before moving to this side of the Potomac 11 years ago. “I find the best way to meet women is through friends of friends. And where I live, everybody is single. We have bars and great places to go to dinner, plus lots of people walking around.”

Though he says his parents have “given up” on the idea of him m Read more


NPR News Washington, September 01, 2014

Our Use Of Little Words Can, Uh, Reveal Hidden Interests by Alix Spiegel

One Friday night, 30 men and 30 women gathered at a hotel restaurant in Washington, D.C. Their goal was love, or maybe sex, or maybe some combination of the two. They were there for speed dating.

The women sat at separate numbered tables while the men moved down the line, and for two solid hours they did a rotation, making small talk with people they did not know, one after another, in three-minute increments.

I had gone to record the night, which was put on by a company called Professionals in the City, and what struck me was the noise in the room. The sound of words, of people talking Read more


Voice of America, February 20, 2014

Story of Pakistan: Finding Love by Ayesha Gilani

Greetings viewers and welcome to Kahani Pakistani's brand new episode! I am your host Ayesha Gillani. In the previous episode, I spent Valentine’s Day with you and we visited the chocolate lover’s festival. But today, I have a story to tell you that's very interesting.
Why is it interesting? Because it is about you!

On my Kahani Pakistani Facebook fan page I shared my views with you (my viewers) about Valentine’s Day. Many viewers told me that they don't like Valentine’s Day because it represents romantic love.

From the start of time people have been searching for their soulmate Read more


The Washington Post, February 09, 2014

The Time of your Love Life by Beth Marlowe

Lisa Klein has dated younger men. And she’s over it.

“I own a business. I own property. I’m established,” says Klein, 46, a physical therapist who lives in D.C. “I want someone on my same level.”

When it comes to dating, where you look determines whom you’ll find. So for those like Klein, who want to date in a specific age range, the key is looking in places where people of the same age are likely to gather.

“I think it’s tough,” she says. “You have to go to the bar where people around your same age would be.”

Not everyone cares. “People my age are on Tin Read more


CBS Radio Life Talk, January 01, 2013

CBS Radio Interview with Donna Briggs and Michael Karlan by CBS Radio

Donna Briggs: Hold the line this is Donna Briggs and you’re with me on Life talk. Thanks for joining us I hope you had a wonderful week. And I am so proud to have on my show Michael Karlan President and Founder of Professionals in the City a socializing network organization that offers professionals a major major networking opportunity in all cities across the US to unwind have fun and meet people that share their interests. How you doin Michael?

Michael: Hi Donna thanks for having us here tonight.

Donna: I’m really excited about this. I stumbled upon your site. Actually a friend o Read more


Roll Call, February 14, 2012

Looking for Love? Speed Dating Aims to Get the Heart Racing by Ivan V. Natividad

District locals looking for love this Valentine’s Day can tilt the odds in their favor by going on 20 dates in one night.

The social networking site Professionals in the City hosts more than 1,000 social gatherings a year, including daily speed-dating events that give Washington singles an opportunity to meet potential partners through a swift series of four-minute meet and greets.

“Unlike many social networking sites, our focus is on people initially meeting face to face,” founder Michael Karlan said. “[But] our most popular events are our speed-dating events.”

As a five-y Read more


Key Biscayne Magazine, February 01, 2012

Get Out (of Your Comfort Zone)! by Cristy Zuazua

Who says the gym is the only place to get a workout? Check out how you can get fit, expand your social circle, and have a blast this summer.

It’s 2012. And while it’s not January anymore, there is still the constant refrain from mass media: don’t give up on the gym! Keep and it and you’ll get that toned body, lose that extra five pound and look fantastic on the beach this summer!

Well.

Granted, a little discipline never hurt anyone. But there are better (and more exciting) ways to work out than watching yourself on the treadmill in that floor length mirror in the gym when it� Read more


USA TODAY, November 08, 2011

Interracial marriage: More accepted, still growing by Sharon Jayson

The dating message Kelsi Hasden got from her parents was more than tolerant.

"It was always clear that pretty much anybody from any racial background would be acceptable," she says. Her mother is white, and her father is black.

"I'm pretty dark-complected. A lot of people think I'm Hispanic," says Hasden, 26, of Jacksonville, who last year married Brian Hasden, 28, who is white.

"I've dated black guys, white guys, Hispanics," she says. "Race, color, how people identify doesn't really cross my mind."

Research has found young adults today have more friends of diverse racial backgroun Read more


Washington Post, July 10, 2011

Washington-area speed-dating business garners attention by targeting South Asians by Aruna Viswanatha

Oshmita Anwar was debating whether to attend a speed-dating event for South Asian Muslims earlier this month when her father, who is Bengali, called with a message: “Go!”

“My parents are always like, ‘you have to get married,’ ” said Anwar, a pretty 25-year old with big eyes and an easy laugh. “I want someone religious, yet social. A lot [of guys] are not social enough.”

The event was the brainstorm of a company called Professionals in the City, which has built a profitable business around organizing events for single men and women, including those whose families hail f Read more


Bloomberg, June 03, 2011

'Intellectual Meat Market’ Makes Washington Long Odds for Single Women by Sandrine Rastello and Timothy R. Homan

Christy McConville has some advice for women in Washington who are frustrated with the dating scene in the nation’s capital: Leave town.

The former District of Columbia resident did just that last year when she relocated to Pasadena, California, after spending almost a decade in Washington. She said it’s now much easier to find single men her age, and she relishes male suitors inquiring about her hobbies rather than her resume.

Washingtonians are “really sort of dating their jobs,” said McConville, 34, who works in political communications. “It’s sort of like an intellectual Read more


Unwind Magazine, May 01, 2011

Put your love life in the fast lane by Mali Krantz

Michael Karlan, founder of Professionals in the City, moved from New York to DC without knowing a soul. It was difficult for him to meet people naturally, so he would go to bars and clubs after work to meet other young people.

“I met women that way, but it was a lot of work,” he said. “It was really inefficient.”

So in 1999 Karlan founded Professionals in the City to host events where DC singles could meet. “The events were successful,” he said. “But people are coming out under the pretense to meet someone. At speed dating you meet 20, 30 people in a night which is just unh Read more


The Hill, April 06, 2011

DC’s unique career opportunities by J.J. Steele

D.C.’s young professionals don’t shy away from competition as they seek to develop their careers in politics, journalism and nonprofit work.

Freshman Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) said that because of the fast-paced work environment of political staffers, the younger crowd is often better able to adapt to the job.

“It’s very competitive, so the types of folks who are able to get employment here are often some of the best and brightest,” said Schweikert.

“We’ve had close to 600 résumés that were delivered to our office. When you have that sort of pool to select from, Read more


Voice of America, March 10, 2011

Sound of America by Tahniat Darbandi

We live in a time that life has more ups and downs. Although the everyday progress of communications technology helps in bringing the people together, making connections has become harder. Speed dating is a look into the time we live in.

Speed dating is a quick way of meeting and coming to know new people for the purpose of finding a life partner. In a group like this, participants sit around a table, and with the person in front of them speak for 3-6 minutes. Then they give their spot to the next person, and this continues till the round circulates to the last person.

Michael Karlan ha Read more


Fiscal Times, February 12, 2011

Love at First Byte: The Magic of Online Dating by Michelle Hirsch

Mail order brides, arranged nuptials, and matchmaker marriages are among the time-honored mating services people have used from the very beginning of the human experience — think Adam and Eve, a match made in ‘heaven.’ Those early unions joined not just the bride and groom, but two families who would often benefit from an infusion of cold hard drachmas, more land or an extra goat or two. In short, matchmaking was a business.

Fast forward to the U. S. in 2011 where matchmaking has evolved into an Internet love fest and where the modern search for a mate often begins and ends on the w Read more


TBD, February 10, 2011

Dating in D.C.: At least these awkward dates end quickly by Daniel Victor

Reporters shouldn't mix their personal and professional lives. Journalists "should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know,” according to our most popular code of ethics.

But few journalists know about the all-important corollary: "Unless you're writing a first-person story about speed-dating and the French girl was really hot. Then go talk to her, you pansy."

And that’s how I talked-to-slash-interviewed Camille Rouget for longer than our allotted four minutes. We had a pleasant conversation for those 240 seconds we sat across from each other at a Read more


AutoWriters.com, February 08, 2011

Speed Dating at the Washington Auto Show by Glenn Campbell

Kudos to the Washington Auto Show for adding a little “Sex And The City” flavor to this year’s event. The show partnered with the capitol’s 200,000-member social networking group, Professionals In The City, to offer the nation’s first speed dating go-round at an auto show. Popular Washington Post columnist, “love guru” Carolyn Hax kicked it off with a Q &A session, then the males went from car to car in the General Motors exhibit while the ladies stayed put (No doubt in the driver’s seat). One female participant said the excitement of the show and the new cars made it, “a per Read more


Washington Times, January 05, 2011

New Year's for youth in this or any year by Mark Hensch

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2011 – My first midnight of the year provided my most exotic New Year's Eve yet. Diving into the “Washington D.C. New Year's Eve Passport to the World Gala: An International Red Carpet Affair” at Dupont Circle's Hilton Hotel was like touring the globe in one glorious party. It also gave me insight into where my generation is going as we enter a new decade just starting the growth of its full potential.

When it comes to New Year's Eve, parties are my business, and business is good. I've hung out with world-champion rodeo rider and “Jackass”/”Deadwood,” st Read more


On Tap, February 01, 2010

Speeeeed Dating-Try It, You Might Like It A He Said, She Said Tale by Derrick Brazier and Kathy Wilmot

Pros in the City (www.prosinthecity.com) has a great record of matches: over 90 percent of people who attend their speed dating events “match” with at least one person. What’s more intriguing is that over 75 percent of people who attended report going on a “real” date with someone they met at their event. (If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is!) Pros in the City hosts more than 200 speed dating events a year in DC alone, drawing a solid turnout to each one. If you want your options narrowed down a bit, Pros in the City also offers events based on age, religion, interests Read more


ABC News, March 20, 2009

Recession Has Some Daters Checking Credit Scores by ABC News

WASHINGTON - The recession has some singles being more careful about who they date. A recent survey shows more than 80 percent of singles are being more selective because they don't want to get involved with someone who needs their own bailout.

Money may be all the talk these days but at a speed-dating event in D.C., singles say they're not bringing it up -- yet.

"Money thing, that's serious stuff. I'll worry about that later," said one participant.

But concerns about job security and financial stability are close to the surface.

"I know a lot of my friends, their financial situa Read more


Washington Post, March 08, 2009

Immigrants' Children Look Closer for Love: More Young Adults Are Seeking Partners of Same Ethnicity by Annie Gowen

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 8, 2009; Page A01

Katie Xiao emigrated from China when she was 4 and always thought of herself as Americanized -- until she started dating.

Subtle cultural clashes with Caucasian or Latino boyfriends led to unhappy breakups. It made her realize she's more Chinese than she thought. Now she wants to meet a man of Asian descent.

She has recently gone to a chocolate tasting in the District and a cocktail mixer at Arlington County's Zen Bistro, both catering to Asian Americans and immigrants. She spent Valentine's Day weekend making contacts Read more


WUSA9.com, March 12, 2008

Cooking For One by Anita Brikman

Michael Karlan is head of Pros in the City and says "A lot of times people are single for all sorts of reasons, and it can be very overwhelming at first." Michael says that learning to cook for one can be very empowering for singles.

Chef Vera Foresman says that single people overthink dinner and go straight for the quick unhealthy fix instead. She says, "They eat frozen foods, canned foods, and go out to the same fast food places." Chef Vera Foresman went on to say that many singles will settle for peanut butter with whatever is in the cupboard, or eat the same unhealthy dish over and Read more


American Observer, February 27, 2008

Speed-dating not just about finding love by Sabrina Parker

Some singles in the district are tired of swapping photos online. Instead they head to Chi Cha lounge for four minute speed dating hosted by Professionals of the City. Michael Karlan, who founded Pros of the City, says people can learn more about each other in four minutes than in a night at a bar, "When you go to a bar, maybe you will meet two or three people all night. Here, you know, you are meeting twenty people. It is just so much more efficient than the bars or than something like Match."

But many say they come out for other reasons than dating. One woman, who has speed dated be Read more


OnTap Magazine, February 01, 2008

Singles, Basketball & Babes by Linda Dickerhoof

It's early January at the Verizon Center as the Washington Wizards battle the Los Angeles Clippers. The excitement builds as Gilbert Arenas shoots...and scores! And scores again! And again! The Wizards beat the Clippers 116-105, thanks in part to NBA superstar (and birthday boy) Arenas.

On this night, some lucky fans leave the arena headed for Arenas' star-studded birthday party to rub elbows with A-listers such as P-Diddy and Beyonce. But for other, some might even say luckier (or at least, not as famous) fans, the party didn't leave the arena, but rather continued in the Dewars Clubhouse Read more


Washington Post, January 23, 2008

Self Serve: At the Singles' Cooking Class, a Few Rules Can Liberate Or Intimidate by Jackie Spinner

They came to lay down their can openers, to embrace the mighty shallot (which some had never seen), to learn that in Vera Foresman's kitchen, rules generally do not apply.

For these Washington singles enrolled in Foresman's class about cooking for one, this was their chance to learn how to make, say, chicken breast in mustard-cream sauce rather than, say, the Megan Gooch Special. That would be a toasted English muffin with peanut butter.

Gooch, 24, came to Mount Olivet United Methodist Church in Arlington for the class with her friend Anish Dewan, 25. Both work in the defense industry Read more


Revista Cosas, January 22, 2008

Tendencies, from Washington: I am single and looking for a partner by Antonieta C'diz

In the capital of the United States, loneliness is tied to success. Professionals who are dedicated one hundred percent to their careers need a little help meeting other people. Luckily for them, there is a company that brings them together and helps them connect.

It is almost eight o'clock in the evening in a central restaurant in Washington DC. Twelve perfect strangers sit in pairs across from each other. Despite their nervousness and while perhaps drinking a cocktail, they laugh, they look at each other and they wait. Although they still do not know if they have something in common, Read more


WUSA 9 News, January 01, 2008

Professionals in the City New Year's Eve Gala Live Broadcast by WUSA 9 News

To see a live WUSA 9 News broadcast of our December 31, 2007 New Year's Eve Gala, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-0VLXoDCv4.

There is a five second delay before the video starts.
Read more


Fashion, August 08, 2007

Pervenia P. Brown by Bulgarian Soire

Wouldn't it be nice if savvy people could meet in chic, casual venues and experience the taste and tradition of other cultures?

Professionals in the City, a Washington, DC-based organization with over 100,000 members, hosts a myriad of social events, from sunset kayaking to Carnaval 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On July 27, Pros in the City hosted "An Exciting Evening at the Embassy of Bulgaria" in the Nation's Capital at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria. Guests were welcomed by a delightful embassy staff and ushered into a sizable room decorated with Bulgarian artifacts, where Read more


DC Guide, March 16, 2007

How To Meet People in Washington, DC by Melanie Paige

I have this friend, Stacy, who would always tell me about these events that she would go to at embassies around Washington. She kept telling me that the organization that set up these events would be something fun for me to look into. I had been involved with my alumni club and with a political organization, but I found that the events that these groups hosted were few and far between. I was looking for something new and fun, so I agreed to go with Stacy to check out an event.

The name of the group that Stacy was talking about is Professionals in the City. I checked out its calendar of even Read more


Washington Post, December 31, 2006

Partying With Taxing Precision by Karin Brulliard

For IRS Lawyer-Turned-Gala Planner, Success Is All About the Numbers

By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 31, 2006; Page C01

Michael Karlan is throwing not one, but two glitzy New Year's bashes tonight. For 1,700 people.

At the French Embassy, guests in glittering gowns and dapper tuxes will sip bottomless glasses of champagne, take mini-lessons in French and dance the New Year in while mimes replica v Read more


The Examiner, June 15, 2005

Visit Cuba in D.C. by Gabrielle Shaughness

Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Page 31
Special to The Examiner

Ever since the United States severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, there has been no official Cuban embassy on American soil.

In an effort to foster relations between the two nations, however, the Carter administration signed a bilateral accord in the late 1970s to establish interest sections in Havana and Washington. https://www.top-replicas.com/


Offering a rare occasion to glimpse the culture, cuisine and music of this often-misunderstood i Read more