Mingle App Is Replacing Serendipity

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Chatting with strangers at a coffee shop, a restaurant or while waiting in line at the grocery store may not be your cup of tea. But what if someone standing in line with you, or even sitting at the next table, could be a potential client or even a prospective candidate for that open position your company needs to fill?

Enter Mingle, a free iPhone app that allows professionals to digitally introduce themselves anywhere they are by revealing one part of their profile: their occupation, skill set or education background. Founded in August 2011, Mingle is based on where you are and who you are. Users are allowed to introduce themselves anywhere they go with hopes of discovering and creating new business relationships.

Andy Kim, CEO and Co-Founder, Mingle, said meeting professionals shouldn't be left up to chance.

"We believe that any of your professional connections today have been made truly by serendipity. Basically, most people don't have control over who they meet," Kim said. "With Mingle, we are trying to replace serendipity and allow people to see and meet a variety of professionals they may need anywhere, anytime."

So how does it work? First, you log in with your Facebook or LinkedIn account. Mingle then pulls your profile and allows you to choose which part of your profile you want to use as your introduction. It also gives you the ability to edit the introduction because, in reality, what you want to be introduced at from place to place could be different. Then you can select a Place to introduce yourself. Users can choose from local places or events. If you can't find one you are looking for, there's an option to create a Location. Once you have introduced yourself, you can quickly connect with other professionals who have made introductions near you, sorted by the closest.

According to Kim, your name and any personal information is not shared because, "your name isn't worth remembering unless there's something interesting about you ... why use up real estate on a small screen to show something irrelevant? The broadcast of your personal information should be controlled by none other than you," he said. And if you are intrigued by a nearby user, you can ask them a question through an in-app messaging feature. You also can send "likes, smiles" and more.

"By surfacing human relevance, Mingle provides a convincing context for introductions," Kim said. "In other words, Mingle lets you see how relevant the people around you are, and then meet the people you actually want to meet. It's like social x-ray glasses for professionals."

Kim said that Mingle's simplicity is its strength. "By allowing users to only select a single profile section as their introduction, the amount of information is easily tapered and controlled," he said, noting that Mingle takes privacy and security concerns very seriously. "Ultimately, it's up to the user as to how private or open they choose to be."

Kim, along with co-founders, William Chu and Charlie Ahn, created the Mingle concept earlier this year. Kim, who has 12 years of front-end coding, UX/UI designing, and product development experience in the entertainment, media, automotive, financial and consumer software sectors, was most recently the co-founder or Townly, a mobile local deals platform. Chu, who has 11 years of software engineering and management experience, has worked as a software engineer in various industries. He also co-founded Townly. Ahn brings to Mingle eight years of experience working as a database administrator and systems administrator in higher education. Recently, he worked as a software developer at an education software company and has helped develop products for small businesses and start-ups.

According to Kim, Mingle has already had 36,000 downloads, as well as over 500,000 messages delivered introductions made and profile views. There are thousands of professionals from healthcare to technology to financial to legal currently on Mingle. The company plans to release an Android version in early December. In addition, there are plans to release versions for Blackberry, as well a web-based version in 2012.  For more information, visit www.joinmingle.com.

About Mingle
Founded in September 2011, Mingle is a free iPhone app that allows professionals to digitally introduce themselves anywhere they are with hopes of discovering and creating new business relationships. Like social x-ray glasses, the new proximity social network gives professionals the opportunity to meet other professionals anywhere, anytime. The website has already seen more than 36,000 downloads since its inception. For more information, visit www.minglesocialapp.com

SOURCE Mingle