La Guardia's New Social Network

While online personal ads are nice, some professionals, primarily business travelers, have decided they simply don't have time to wait days or weeks for an online match to respond. For those that travel frequently, by the time they receive an anticipated email, they're half way across the country, even the world, on a business trip.

"My schedule changes a lot," says Kevin, a 36-year-old insurance trainer from Salt Lake City, Utah. "I could be home on Monday and in New York City on Tuesday. Now I might stand a chance of getting a dinner date instead of eating out alone," he laughs.

A new social networking service is now available for travelers with access to the Concourse WiFi Hotspot at La Guardia Airport. In a joint effort between Concourse Communications and Jambo, business travelers can now download a simple application enabling them to create a bio. Once they've plugged in basic information such as personal interests and the type of person they'd like to meet, Jambo helps them discover people in or nearby their location. Now travelers can pick up baggage while collecting their luggage. If both parties agree, they can hook up to meet in person almost instantly. Energetic travelers can squeeze in a little speed-dating while waiting out lengthy layovers.

"Airports are hubs for chance encounters with millions of people passing through them every day. I've run into old friends, and even gotten a job from meeting someone on a flight. I know several people who have dated someone they met on a plane. Yet, those interactions are just with the people that happen to be in a seat near them," says Charles Ribaudo, co-founder of Jambo. "We're now extending those opportunities to everyone on the same plane or in the same terminal."

The software, which is compatible with both Windows and Apple, includes the following features:

* The ability to discover people up to several blocks away
* Program works online, offline and in the air
* Users can choose to be invisible
* A relevance bar displays match quality
* Instant messaging with other users on the same flight

"More than 24 million people travel through La Guardia Airport every year. The chances that some of those travelers are relevant to one another is very high," said Jim Young, Jambo co-founder. "So there is a huge opportunity for us to connect them together, whether in La Guardia Airport, on their flight, or wherever they land. In an age of faceless, anonymous online interaction, Jambo makes possible a powerful and timeless way of meeting people and doing business: face-to-face."