"Published socialite, inveterate gentleman, successful young professional who enjoys the finer things in life with a stylish demeanour that appears to be a dying art in our time."

That's how our Bachelor, Ian van der Colf, described himself in his application to be The onematchstick Bachelor.

Ian is a hopeless romantic who enjoys fine dining and socialising. He knows lots of people, enjoys meeting new people, and when time permits has fun exploring new places as he travels.

Ian is known to write about his escapades and adventures, and the latest hot cocktail bars and restaurants around our country- and especially in Johannesburg - keeping his readers colourfully entertained. You can read more and see his latest tumble with a sand dune on his blog, entitled "recesses of a disturbed mind".

Ian's love for technology and people comes together in his prolific use of social media where he is known as 'samuraibunny' and professionally in his pursuit of a career that combines both financial and technological aspects to drive success in any business entity, where he is known as a hard working, analytical team player who's on top of his game, in work and play.

All in all, our Bachelor is a fun-loving guy that probably likes partying just a bit too much ;) Here's a video of him, where I ask Ian more questions so you can get to know him a bit.


If you would like to be a part of The onematchstick Bachelor, and get a chance to meet Ian in person and possibly win the final Date with him, then here's what you need to know:

How The Bachelor – onematchstick Edition is going to work:

1. You need to sign up to meet The Bachelor, Ian, by buying online for yourself one of my Springleap T-shirts (with beers) (R183 plus R36 for delivery = R219) and sending in a photo and a sentence or two about yourself, (or for the more daring, a 30 to 45 second movie clip introducing yourself). (Note: you'll need the T-shirt for step 3). Entries close Friday 4 March 2011 - extended to Friday 11 March 2011.
2. You can interact with Ian via his Facebook fanpage, and ask him questions to get to know him.
3. Then you'll attend a cocktail party on 15 March 2011 at the fab FTV Cedar Square Johannesburg, (dress code is Springleap T-shirts), to meet Ian in person, and make your impression.
4. At the cocktail party, Ian will be choosing 10 lucky entrants to go on dates with (and we might make a little movie clip about you).
5. At this party you will also get to mingle with all the eligible guys who enter into The Bachelorette ;)
6. If you're one of the lucky ten chosen by Ian, you will have to think up a date to take Ian out for - your choice: anything from a coffee, to a dinner or the theatre! Whatever you choose, to allow you and Ian to get to know each other some more.
7. The ten dates will take place over the 2 weeks after the cocktail party.
8. The ten finalists will then attend another cocktail party after all the dates, where Ian will then announce his choice, and invite the winning entrant for the Winning Date to be spoilt by him at his favourite restaurant. And there are other prizes to be won, including a necklace!
9. And who knows, maybe you’ll make a new friend or find the love of your life! Anything is possible!

How to sign up:

Buy your Springleap T-shirt. Here's how:

1. If you haven't registered yet on Springleap.com, now's the time to do so.
2. When you are logged in, choose the T-shirt you want. You can choose ANY design. (If you cant find a T-shirt you like, then choose a Gift Voucher that you can use later when new designs become available).
3. When you find the T-shirt you want, click on the size you want (there is a link which explains the sizing and the ladies T-shirts are a lady's cut). Once you click on the size, it gets added to your "shopping cart".
4. When you've finished adding your T-shirt to your shopping cart, click on the shopping cart icon on the top right hand of the screen.
5. Enter in your delivery details, and where it says "if you have a Springleap coupon, enter it here:" you enter the code, which is: onematchstick (all lower case, one word). This is a VERY IMPORTANT STEP! Please remember to add the code to track your purchase as a trade with me!
6. Click the confirm and pay button.
7. Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by Credit Card.
8. Just follow the prompts and you will have finished your order, and your T-shirt will be delivered in a few days.
9. Email me your Springleap order number to onematchstick@gmail.com to finalised this part of your entry, and make sure your name is on the guest list for the cocktail party.

Something about yourself:

The minimum to enter is to atleast send in a sentence or two about yourself, and a photo. For those more daring, you can send in a video clip instead. Get a friend to help by holding your phone, or set up your camera to make a short, 30 to 45 second movie clip to introduce yourself to Ian, The Bachelor. It can be as simple as you want, or as creative as you can imagine. We're not looking for professionalism in the cinematography, but just a few words so that Ian can have a sense of who you are.

And yes, your few lines about yourself or your video will be made public on the internet! This is a reality–internet–project after all. ;) Pseudonyms allowed. So you might have to get out your comfort zone to take part- but it'll be well worth it!

The few lines or your video can be uploaded directly to The Bachelor's Fan page on Facebook, or to YouTube and the link can be added to the Fan page on Facebook or emailed to me to add.

If you have any questions, then get in touch!

So, what are you waiting for? Enter now to be part of The onematchstick Bachelor!

The fine print aka T & C's:
By entering you give onematchstick permission to blog about you, video you at the Bachelor related events, and have full usage rights of all the material.
And if something out of our control comes up, we reserve the right to change any of the dates or the process of this project.