PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More than 50 women and men from around the world gathered at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on Thursday for the first-ever "YentaCon," a conference for matchmakers who cater to Jewish singles.

Matchmakers came to Philadelphia from as far away as Canada and Israel.

"My first match, I was 16 years old," Bonnie Winston, who's from New York, said. "It was a calling, and I think that the matchmakers that are here, are here because it's a calling."

One of the goals for matchmakers at the conference is to take back the Yiddish word, yenta, which means a gossip or a busybody.