Are Canadians flirting with career-disaster this holiday season?

- Romantic social network Zoosk.com finds Canadians are comfortable bringing someone to their office party after as little as one date -

TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadians name several ways a date could embarrass them at a company holiday party - still, many men have no problem bringing along someone that they've only known for as little as one date according to a survey by romantic social network Zoosk.com. Could they be setting themselves up for a disaster date (and embarrassment in front of their co-workers?).

Nearly half of Canadian men (45%) say they'd bring someone to their office party after only one date even though they name several ways that a date could embarrass them in front of their co-workers. The top-three answers were:

1. Getting too drunk (43%)
   
2. Getting in an argument at the party (20%)
   
3. Flirting with their boss (16%)

Canadian women take things a bit slower and three-quarters (74%) say they'd need to date someone for at least a month before introducing them to their co-workers. Their list of the top most embarrassing behaviour is similar to men's, except rather than being concerned about their date flirting with the boss, they're concerned about them putting their foot in their mouth and offending the boss (18%).

"Your date's behaviour will reflect upon you in the eyes of your co-workers and boss, so you should know the person pretty well before bringing them to an office function," says Jane Barrett, Director of Marketing at Zoosk.com. "An office party is not the most romantic date idea anyway!"

Don't ask, don't tell - Recipe for disaster?

The majority of Canadians don't give their date any kind of summary of what to expect at the office party and instead send them in blind without any background on their co-workers or even a head's up as to who the boss is; 70% of Canadians don't ask anything about their date's co-workers before arriving to their party.

"It's not surprising since many Canadians are still getting to know their dates for the party that they wouldn't talk about the other guests, but a small bit of background can go a long way to ensure you and your date make a good impression," says Barrett.

Generally Barrett advises that the holiday party date be reserved for established couples.

"I wouldn't even consider the holiday party as a 'date'," says Barrett. "Dates should be romantic occasions where you can spend time together and bond as a couple. When you've been with someone a while you can meet their co-workers and keep them company at their holiday function, but it's not a replacement for a romantic date night!"

About the Zoosk Holiday Party Poll
Zoosk collected responses from 739 of their Canadian members through an online survey conducted in December 2012.

About Zoosk
Zoosk is the romantic social network that helps members create and share their romantic journeys, with millions of members from around the globe enjoying the service each month. Zoosk provides members at different stages of their romantic journey with a fun and social set of tools such as Romantic Moments, Couple Profiles, and the Personals application. Members can easily access Zoosk's services from its website, its Facebook app, mobile devices, and a downloadable desktop application. Zoosk is available in 25 languages and has members in more than 70 countries. Founded in 2007 by Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, Zoosk, Inc. is based in San Francisco and backed by Canaan Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and ATA Ventures.

SOURCE: Zoosk

Sinead Brown
[email protected]
416-413-5193