A Cyberman Guaranteed For Every Woman 
Carolyne Zinko, Chronicle Staff Writer 
硓riday,賫ovember 12, 1999  
  
 
A national dating club is having its annual 
singles party in Silicon Valley this weekend, and 
promoters guarantee that every woman will meet at 
least one good man or she'll get her money back. 
Silicon Valley is reputed to have more bachelors 
per single woman than anywhere but Alaska -- 
which is where promoters held the party last year 
but mistakenly scheduled it on the opening day of 
hunting season. 
The odds of finding love may be higher here, but 
the question is, are eligible men who hunker down 
in front of a computer any more desirable than 
men who run off to shoot bears? 
``Every mother wants her daughter to marry a man 
with a good steady job, who愀 well-educated, has 
lots of money and doesn愒 chase after women in 
bars,斐 said Richard Gosse, chairman of 
AmericanSingles.com, sponsor of the event at 
Hyatt Rickey愀 in Palo Alto. ``For a lot of these 
guys, the reason they愉e glued to a computer 
screen is they don愒 have a woman.斐 
Try telling that to the single women of Silicon 
Valley, who know that lots of high-tech types 
think dressing up is wearing brown Dockers and a 
braided belt, that a nice meal is a $5 burrito, 
and that a cool date is an evening at Fry's 
Electronics. 
If their millions in stock options don't overrule 
those defects, at least they can fix your 
computer. 
Not all the hopeful romantics attending tonight 
want to be cast as fortune hunters in the 
electronic Gold Rush. 
One 48-year-old woman, a business manager from 
Sunnyvale, said she is going to the convention to 
create more balance in her life, which is crammed
with 70-hour work weeks and volunteering. 
``I扉e got a house, car and my stock options look
good. Could there be something that could make it
better? A partnership, a marriage, people to 
companion with when you want to,斐 she said. 
Gosse, of San Rafael, author of such works as ``A
Good Man is Easy to Find,斐 is billing the 
convention as the world愀 largest yearly singles 
convention. He said 1,000 love- hunters have 
signed up to come from as far as Southern 
California, Canada and even London. 
American Singles was founded in 1978 and had 
20,000 members before launching its Web site, 
AmericanSingles.com, in 1994. It now has 250,000 
members in 96 countries, Gosse said. 
Tonight's main events are a keynote address and 
dance; tomorrow's are four lectures by 
relationship experts and an evening ball in the 
convention hall. 
Gosse's address, ``The Great American Bachelor 
Shortage . . . and Other Myths,斐 will contend 
that there is actually a national shortage of 
single women to date. 
That rings true to some of the bachelors in 
Silicon Valley. 
Matt Iwasaka, 33, a computer systems manager at a
construction company in San Jose has signed up to
attend the convention. 
``If there were even 30 percent women, that would
be flabbergasting to me,斐 he said. 
His friend, Jeff Williams, 38, an account 
executive for a San Jose telecommunications 
company, agreed. 
``When you go out to a club in Silicon Valley, 
it愀 all men, wherever you go, and the few women 
who go out -- there愀 a huddle of men around 
them,斐 he said. ``And when you have a female 
friend and ask her out, the inevitable is, 
there愀 five men in line behind her boyfriend or 
husband waiting to take her out.斐 
Still, Williams hopes to find a date at the 
convention. 
``Some of my friends have given up,斐 he said. 
``I refuse to give up.斐
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