Features

Alison Vacovec Director of Sales, MobileFuse, 33

In eighth grade, she was voted “best eyes,” and we still think she’s a stunner. After growing up in Winchester, she earned her BA from Colgate and moved to New York, where she launched her career in the music business. At MTV, she worked on the VMAs. At Columbia Records, she worked with artists like John Mayer, Jessica Simpson and Beyoncé, and, eventually, she landed a job working for Sting. A move back to Boston and a transition to high tech followed, until she joined MobileFuse—a mobile advertising firm—as director of sales. Vivacious and outgoing, she’s a fantastic water-skier, a fanatical sports nut, a borderline gym rat (hoping to be an instructor soon) and isn’t afraid to stay out late. At the Forum party, she already knew several of the other singles, and she wasted no time in getting to know the others. Fiercely loyal and family-oriented, she spends most of the summer with her cousins in Webster, on Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Anyone who wants to be her partner in crime will have to wrap his tongue around that one.

Victoria Bratberg Director of Fine Jewelry, Skinner, 36

Hailing from Illinois, she went to Southern Methodist University in Dallas before moving to New York and joining Sotheby’s auction house, where she earned her gemology degree. Last year, she moved here to become the head of the jewelry department at Skinner, and she fits seamlessly into Boston’s aura of cultured elegance. She owns two dogs, Bofin and Lafite, and carries herself like Audrey Hepburn. Witty and self-deprecating, she says her ideal date is “someone who doesn’t cancel,” and she’s a whiz at things other women fuss over, like whipping up a soufflé. Besides brains and beauty, she comes with a house in Cabo San Lucas and a demeanor that’s both calmly ethereal and game for a bit of mischief. Not surprising for someone who appraises jewelry for a living, she can spot a fake from a mile away, and her taste is superb. Forgive the glaringly obvious pun, but she’s simply a gem.

Joselin Mane Cofounder and CEO, BostonTweetUp

The youngest and only son in a Dominican family of five, he was raised by a single mother in Lawrence, meaning he knows how to relate to a busy woman. After a full scholarship to Holderness School, he studied engineering at Northeastern and climbed the corporate ladder until IBM featured him in a full-page ad praising his work helping the furniture giant Herman Miller save a million dollars a year through e-learning. From there, he went on to start LITBeL Consulting in 1999, but his latest endeavor is BostonTweetUp, an event planning and promotions company that leverages social media in community building. He jokes that he’s the only Dominican “to sell out a major corporate venue in Boston without playing baseball.” A master at networking, he’s full of charm and intelligence, along with boundless enthusiasm and energy. The night of our mixer, he met someone with whom he’s since dated. Success has allowed him to build his family a house in the Dominican Republic, and while he could easily adopt attitude, he’s a casual guy who’s easy to get along with and just as easy on the eyes.

Melinda Sarkis Senior Associate, Hammond Residential, 40

One of the city’s top-producing residential real estate brokers, this beautiful brunette was born and raised in New Hampshire and attended the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. In addition to selling homes, she teaches Core Fusion at Exhale and runs the Boston Marathon as a member of Tedy’s Team, to raise money and awareness for stroke prevention. Self-effacing and quick to laugh, she has a megawatt smile and a nuclear reactor’s level of energy. A beach-lover and adventurer, she once climbed to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. As comfortable at a dive bar as she is in a five-star restaurant, she’s poised, polished and prettier than anyone has a right to be. Any guy lucky enough to date her will have to work hard to keep up. 

Stephen Lampert Entrepreneur, MBA student, 30

A Duxbury native, he attended Bowdoin and is earning an MBA from Babson College. A devoted skier, surfer and all-around athlete, he’s an adrenaline junkie who’s up for anything with a daredevil element. He’s charismatic and self-assured without being cocky, but admits to sometimes being impulsive to a fault. Recently, he started an outdoor bag company on Martha’s Vineyard that’s geared toward island-hoppers who aren’t named Biff or wear whale pants. A keen sense of humor and the kind of good looks that turn the ladies’ heads, he gets bonus points for a head of hair so thick he claims hikers have gotten lost in it. His ideal mate? “I’m a sucker for what I call ‘Connecticut hot,’ which is very different than ‘L.A. hot’ or ‘Miami hot.’” In other words, he’s looking for the girl next door.

Kathleen McGhee Event Director, UpStairs on the Square, 35

The consummate hostess, she’s a perfectionist without being annoying about it, knowing that the key to hospitality is to make her guests feel welcome, whether or not they even remembered to RSVP. As events director at UpStairs on the Square, she works with some of the city’s top chefs and the world’s finest winemakers, and her aesthetic sensibilities are more than up to the task. Raised in New Hampshire, she did a brief stint in fashion in New York before moving to San Francisco where she was the marketing manager for Yoga Journal, producing large-scale events with celebrities nationwide. After missing three New England autumns, she returned to Boston, and we’re much richer for it. She’s adaptable to any situation—a roll-with-the-punches type—and any woman interested in dating her had better be, too. With dimples and eyes that could charm the birds from the trees, she’s a sparkler. Extra points for being super low-maintenance and drama-free.

Jamie Doris Director of Interactive Services, Stevens Advertising Associates, 38

After studying French at the University of New Hampshire and working in Geneva and Paris, this independent thinker is now with a boutique advertising agency that handles art and entertainment clients in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Miami. As easygoing as he is wildly creative, he admires his parents’ 41-year marriage, and wouldn’t mind emulating it with the right guy. At parties he wears an omnipresent smile, and he was a part of the team that founded the Edge Gay Media Network. One of his closest friends describes him as “cultured, genuine, honest and kind.” The top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia is his idea of a romantic spot, and the guy who gets this Boy Scout up there will have won the ultimate merit badge.

Misa Kuranaga Principal Dancer, Boston Ballet

As the song from A Chorus Line goes, “Everything was beautiful at the ballet,” which is certainly true when this dancer takes the stage. Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, she won gold medals at the Moscow International and USA International ballet competitions and performed as a guest artist with the New York City Ballet. Last September, she produced A Thousand Cranes, a successful fund-raiser for tsunami relief. That such tremendous strength and grace could be contained in such a petite package is astonishing—and don’t get us started on her stage presence. Despite her stature, underestimate her at your peril. She’s as indomitable as they come but laughs often and easily, and has a character that keeps people on their A-game.

Jon Albanese Executive Sports Producer, WEEI Boston Red
Sox & Boston Celtics Radio, 31

While studying radio broadcasting in college, he worked as an intern at WRKO and wound up as executive sports producer at WEEI—the dream job of any sports fan, especially one from Melrose. With a voice like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast (but without the arrogance), he likes a good adventure, saying an ideal date could include, “lunch, followed by skydiving, street luge or bungee-jumping.” His closest girlfriend describes him as “a good listener, diligent and loyal,” and he gets bonus points for loving to cook for his lady and thinking nothing is more romantic than “comfortable silence with your significant other.” Having survived cancer as a teenager, he has his priorities straight. He’s the type of guy who once showed up for a first date at a girl’s apartment to find it strewn with boxes, and, when she asked him to help her move instead of hit the town, he gallantly gave her a hand. 

Julia Harte Owens Program Officer, Ridgeway
Philanthropy, 31

A cross between Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby and Winona Ryder in Heathers, she was born and raised on Beacon Hill, attended Phillips Academy Andover, Emerson and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She now works as a philanthropic adviser in Boston and is actively involved in many nonprofits—among them the board of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, the alumni board of Emerson, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled. The peaches-and-cream beauty of a Fragonard painting hides a stand-up comic’s repartee. She’s seen a good deal of the world but maintains a doe-eyed capacity for amazement. And don’t mistake the quirky outlook for a laissez-faire attitude; she’s as devoted and caring as they come.

See photos from our Bachelor/ette Mixer at Forum!

Credits:

Hair stylist- Patrice Lynch and Dee Phon/ James Joseph Salon

Makeup by Joanna Petit-Frere/ www.VISAGE-1STUDIOS.com

Wardrobe styling by Dana Moscardelli/Zero2Sixty Creative