by Katie Dowe
“What the hell are you doing?” Kitty asked her reading the chats. “You are going to tell them everything about your idea. Stop it!”
“Just let me be. I think I have something here.” Janet asked for some more time as she typed into the chat box — “I really liked the idea of something that exists beyond your reach or grasp, but makes you yearn for it. Like a long lost love that you crave to be with.”
“I was also using the word Date as a hook. You know .. international date line.. and date.. like will you be my date?” the responder typed in.
Janet could see the appeal but the possibility of legal hassles kept her away from using this name, “I love this name, but there could be some complications.. legally.” she replied.
“Jan, that is enough. We need to stop this right now.” Kitty reminded her.
But Janet was enjoying this virtual brainstorming. This stranger was giving her a new perspective on how to come up with a name. However, she also knew that Kitty was right.
“Jan, get out of there. Right now!” this time Kitty was firm.
“But I am having so much fun!” Janet pleaded like a child.
Kitty knew Janet was never going to stop and so she pulled the plug. With one swift move, she turned her laptop off.
“Are you out of your mind? You can't just go on telling random strangers over the internet about your next big idea.”
But Janet was not listening to Kitty. Now she was thinking of the oceans and the date line. She could feel the yearning of that long love that she had not seen or touched before in her life. And it gave her goosebumps.
“Are you okay?” Kitty asked looking at Janet.
“I think I got it!” she replied with a smile.
Kitty could see that Janet was staring into space without blinking and there was a big smile on her face. Normally, it would have freaked out somebody who did not know Janet, but Kitty knew this face meant Janet was on the verge of a breakthrough.
“Tell me!” Kitty said, knowing Janet was going to drop a name any moment now.
“You know.. something that is beyond any boundary or control. Where love can feel free and safe, without any worry of any political or moral constraint.”
Janet looked at Kitty with a knowing smile.
“Something like international waters?” Kitty replied after thinking for a few seconds.
Janet smiled and looked into Kitty’s eyes.
“High Seas,” she said.
And it hit Kitty right there. This name was perfect for their service. It represented everything their idea stood for. Janet had done it again.
“High Seas,” Kitty thought. “I love it.”
“I know you do.” Janet said with a big smile.
Finally, they had an idea and a name.
*****
“I love it,” Rebecca declared her love instantly after hearing the name. “Let me check if it's available and I will get it registered.”
“We already did. It's available and we have bought the domains. So all we need you to do is get it registered.” Kitty told Rebecca.
“Awesome! I will prepare the paperwork right away. What are you guys going to do now?”
“We are going to setup a team that will take care of everything technical. I will get my team from CookUp to do this. I trust them blindly,” Janet replied.
“First, we need to come up with a marketing strategy and set up a backend. These two things have to be done simultaneously. After that we can talk about creating the website and app. And once we are done with that, we will need to start advertising.” Kitty already had it all figured out.
“Remember, its bigger than CookUp,” Janet reminded Kitty. “This time we are going to launch it simultaneously in several countries.”
“Absolutely! And I know just the people for this job.” Kitty knew her job quite well.
Janet knew she could count on Kitty and Rebecca and so she focused on how to get the service working. She discussed the idea with the developer team that helped her with CookUp. Together they came up with a strategy to make meeting people from strange countries a breeze. It was both safe and fun, and just the way Janet had imagined it.
The developers were now working to create a website and app that were interconnected. On the other hand, Kitty was busy with the marketing team trying to figure out how to get the service the best exposure all over the globe. The plan was to create a buzz among the public all over the world as if something big is about to come their way. And after the hype has been generated, the service was to be launched like a big event.
The marketing team suggested creating a short film to launch on social media with a love story that transcended geographical boundaries. Janet really liked the idea and another team was formed to create a series of videos.
“This is going to be amazing,” Kitty said while looking at the briefs. Janet could see how excited she was.
*****
A beautiful girl was standing in the fields, looking around as if searching for something or somebody. A handsome man was in the mountains, roaming aimlessly before he stopped and looked into space. Together both of them were separated by a thin boundary that was almost invisible. They were trapped in their two different worlds with their backs towards each other. And slowly, they start turning around, feeling each other’s presence. The moment their eyes met each other, they stood there frozen in the moment — two people from different worlds, finally meeting face to face. But then they realized that their worlds were different, and impossible to meet. With a strong yearning in their heart and desire in their eyes, they tried to touch each other, but all they felt was an invisible border between themselves. The longing intensified and so did the efforts. They tried to break the invisible separation using rocks and their hands. But all their efforts were futile and they almost gave up looking into each other’s eyes. And then, something happened — Their worlds started to change and soon both of them were standing in one realm that was more beautiful than the worlds they came from. It was a world filled with warm light and soothing breeze touching their faces and hair. The ocean was visible all around them in its full glory. The two of them stood up and looked at each other — the invisible wall was not there anymore. They were now free to touch each other and the first thing they did was to hold each other’s hands. They walked closer and looked into each other’s eyes.
High Seas appeared on the screen as the lovers went out of focus. A beautiful female voice read the name, “High Seas — Love without boundaries.”
A small message appeared on the side of the screen saying, “Available for download on iOS and Android.”
“So what do you think?” Kitty asked Janet. Both of them were sitting in front of a big screen, watching this short promotional video that was about to be launched on social media sites.
Janet took some time to phrase her response and then said, “I don't know. It felt a little too mushy.”
“It resonates very well with our target demographics.” Kitty informed Janet how this seemed to be the perfect video for their brand.
“I think I need some more time to say anything about this video. What else do you have?” Janet said massaging her eyes.
Kitty took out a few images from a folder and showed them to Janet. These were the prints of the billboard and print ads that were about to be published all over the world. These prints were in several languages and had men and women of different ethnicities together. It was like almost every country was about to be invaded by High Seas.
“Wow!” Janet realized looking at the prints. “I just realized how big this thing is going to be. Look at all these faces and languages. So many people will see and hear about our idea.”
Kitty felt proud of her work, “See, this is going to be amazing!”
“I am kind of nervous now.” Janet threw a curve ball to Kitty.
“What? Why?”
“None of my ideas were launched on such a big scale before, Kitty. And now I am worried if I will fai
l in more than one country.” Janet made her apprehensions clear.
“The app and website are getting really good reaction from the test users. You should stop worrying about it now. Besides, it's not in our hands anymore. We have put something big in motion here and now the only thing we can do is wait and watch.”
Kitty’s words did help Janet, but she was still nervous. “Yeah, you are right.” she said trying to hide her fears and doubts. Kitty could see right through her as Janet pretended not to worry about failing anymore. But Kitty decided not to push Janet anymore. This doubt was something she needed to tackle herself.
Days later Janet could see billboards of High Seas all over the city. She also saw how it was trending in social media with young people talking about it. The idea was clear, but how it was going to unfold created a mystery. A better less mushy version of the video was launched on the social media where the girl and boy met in a more believable fashion and not in fantasy land. The video quickly surpassed a million views within a week and Kitty made sure to let Janet know about it.
“One million views in just one week. We are on the right track here.”
It did boost Janet’s confidence but she was still a little skeptical. She had accepted this skepticism as a part of her nervousness. “It's going to be great.” she would say to herself.
And then Janet saw something that made all her nervousness and skepticism wash away. An article in a reputed journal declared High Seas already a hit venture even before its release.
“With its global popularity and continuous trending, High Seas seems to be the next big thing that you would expect from Janet Crane; the founder of CookUp. The service is yet to be launched but is being widely discussed all over the world. With more than a million dollars spent in its marketing budget, High Seas is set to a booming launch this month. The website and app features on bringing people from different countries closer removing all the hurdles and hazardous scenarios. It not only talks about keeping its member’s details private but also advising them on Visa procedures after a successful match and relationship. With its global hype, High Seas is the talk of the town everywhere in the world. Lets see how it fares in the real sea after its launch.”
The article filled Janet with a new confidence. Now she knew that people were seeing what she envisioned. Her idea was soon about to become a reality and now she was ready for it.
*****
“You are going to be great,” Rebecca told Janet who was drinking a glass of water. It was her third glass in one minute.
“I have never seen you this nervous in any of your events before,” Kitty told Janet.
“I never launched anything globally before this,” Janet replied taking up another glass of water in her hands.
Rebecca then signaled Kitty to shut up and let Janet calm herself down.
“Now listen to me, Jan. You are going to go out there and tell all these people why you came up with this idea. Tell them how it is going to change the world. These people don't understand yet what you are bringing to the table. This is going to change how we meet other people.”
Janet knew Rebecca was saying all this to cheer her up, and to be honest she was succeeding. Janet prepared herself as she saw the audience in the hall watching a new video created specially for the launch. It had different couples from various parts of the world coming together in an emotional montage. These included same sex couples as well. High Seas was for everyone. Janet held her breath as the video played and she waited for the reaction from the audience. As the video ended, the hall thundered with applause and the host called out Janet’s name.
“Go now,” Kitty gently pushed Janet onto the stage.
Walking slowly, Janet entered the stage amidst the cheers and applause and took the microphone in her hands. She could feel the gaze of all the attendees piercing her from down the stage. She had been on the stage many times before but nothing had made her immune to this stage fright of addressing so many people and explaining to them what her product was.
But Janet knew how this was going to go down. “Hello everyone. Thank you for coming here,” she started with greeting the audience. Janet knew how people loved being thanked for just being somewhere. “Today all of us are here to witness the birth of something amazing.. something that is going to change how we meet people forever.”
Janet looked around the hall and found that she had the audience at her command. People were waiting to listen to her.
“Some of you might be asking ‘Why do we need another dating site?’ or perhaps ‘How is this dating site different from so many others?’ … Well let me tell you that High Seas is not a dating site. It's not a matchmaking service.. No sir!”
Janet looked at her audience again and found them still glued to her voice.
“Then what is High Seas?” Janet took a pause before answering her own question. “High Seas is a place where you can come and be yourself. What you are in the world outside does not matter to High Seas. We believe the only thing you need to connect with a fellow human being is by knowing who they really are.. not by what they do, how much they earn, or where they live. And so the users will not be able to view any information about each other except their names during their initial courting period. We would like to bring that element of mystery back into our lives that this technology has taken away from us. With just one click, now we can look for a person over the internet. But at High Seas, you are encouraged to be enchanted by the person you just saw. In order to know more about the people they are interested in, the users will have to perform some online tasks. And then they can also know what their person of interest does, only with the user’s permission of course.”
As Janet checked again, the audience was still under her control, and so she knew it was time for her to bring down the hammer.
“So let me introduce to you.. a new way of knowing people all around the world. High Seas .. a world without boundaries.”
With Janet’s declaration everybody in the audience received a text that had a link to download the App. People applauded and cheered and Janet was finally over her fear.
“Please enjoy your evening. Thank you for coming.” Janet walked backstage after thanking the audience. As Janet moved out, the host introduced the CTO of High Seas who informed the audience about the technical details of the app and website.
“You kicked ass!” Rebecca hugged Janet as she came back from the stage.
“You think they liked it?” Janet asked nervously, to which Kitty showed her how almost everyone in the audience was busy with their phones in the audience.
“Like it? They are already in .. look!”
Janet could see that people were playing with the app and website. Kitty opened a server that displayed the real time data of active users and it was teeming up with new registrations.
“Look, people are jumping on our server. We are getting around 5 new registrations in a minute. This is big!” Kitty was jumping with joy while showing the data to Janet.
“This is happening! This is finally happening,” Janet said to herself looking at her idea taking a real form on the server.
Chapter 4
“It's not going to work like this.” Kitty threw her iPad on the table. Frustrated, she was talking over the phone with the marketing head. “What changed in two weeks? We were like the Hercules at the launch. What happened to the figures?”
The marketing head was not able to provide a satisfactory answer to Kitty and so she disconnected the call after giving him a final ultimatum. “It's your job to get us more members and to ensure they stay there, using our service. So I want you to get on it right away and get more members registered on our servers.”
Janet who was listening to this call was aware of the fact that the numbers of new registrations had significantly dipped since their launch. Where they achieved a max number of 11 members registering with them per minute, now it had gone to 1 member in 8 hours.
Though Janet did not say anything to her
, Kitty could see how distressed she was.
“You, please stop worrying. This is just a temporary snag and we will be alright.”
Janet did not reply and it made Kitty more bothered.
“I am telling you, we will be fine.”
“I did not say anything,” Janet cried.
“That was the whole point. You always tell me what you are thinking but these days you are keeping things to yourself.”
“You really wanna know what I am thinking?”
And suddenly Kitty wanted to take her words back. But it was too late.
“I have been thinking that this whole idea was a big mistake, and I should not have even touched it.”
Kitty just stood there without saying a word. Janet was venting her frustration and she did not want to stop her.
“When we launched CookUp, we crossed 500,000 members in just a week. It's been over a week since the launch and we still don’t have even 100,000 members. Our website and app are getting less and less traffic each day and so I am wondering what went wrong. Did something happened since the launch that is preventing people from joining us, or maybe it was just a marketing hype that got people interested in our idea. Because now I don’t see people coming to us like they did during the launch.”
Janet finally stopped. “So that is what I am thinking! Happy?”
Kitty was actually happy to see that Janet was finally letting it all out.
“Alright, with that out of our way, lets try to figure out what we can do to get this thing back on track.” Kitty said gaining her composure back. She knew that yelling at each other was not going to do any good to the numbers.
Janet was feeling a little better after venting her frustration out but she was also feeling bad for yelling at Kitty. Yet she did not say anything and decided to just let things go.
“We need to know what is making people not join us. All the other dating services are getting more and more members each day, then what is wrong with us?”
“Maybe they don't like the way things are at High Seas?” Janet suggested. “Maybe they want to see the information about the people they like.”