Making & Keeping Adult Friendships

Meeting "through friends" used to be the most common way people met their romantic partners. But in the days since the internet, dating apps, and a global pandemic, that percentage has dropped dramatically.

More broadly, people seem to have fewer friends in general. In recent decades, the number of adults with 5 or more close friends has declined significantly, while the number of adults without any close friends has continued to climb. These trends have consequences for our romantic lives, careers, general wellbeing, and more.

At Met Through Friends, we encourage our guests to leverage social ties and social proof to find romantic partners and lead richer lives, but that can't happen without friends in the first place. Why is friendship declining, and what can be done about it?

We've invited a diverse panel of experts to help us explore this topic and provide actionable next steps.

The panelists:

Jaclyn Thomas is a LMSW and therapist at SoHo CBT Therapy + Mindfulness Center. She helps clients navigate the complexities of relationships and form meaningful, lasting connections with psychotherapy, CBT, and mindfulness tools. She received her Master of Social Work from NYU and has extensive experience working with individuals from diverse backgrounds and presenting issues.

Natalie Cramer is the founder and host of Single Saturdays and Human Hearts Collective, NYC communities built around authentic connection. With a background in communications and creative life coaching, she creates fun, engaging experiences that help people meet, open up, and build real relationships with others and themselves.

Safi Aziz is the founder of Joust, a "play club where fun-loving people meet to compete." They host social gaming experiences from game nights to murder mysteries in beautiful locations. He also creates content on hosting, hospitality, and the socialization industry.

Timothy Yu is the NYC Head of Operations for 222, a platform designed to help people form, deepen, and maintain meaningful relationships with other people and places on a recurring basis. With chapters in over 15 cities worldwide, they use AI to help orchestrate chance encounters.

Rachel Saslaw is the founder of StoryTell, a community that hosts in-person storytelling gatherings to foster empathy, curiosity, and connection in New York City. Rachel writes, speaks, and coaches on experience design, community building, and personal storytelling. Her works sits and the intersection of storytelling, belonging, and what it actually takes to build a thriving and sustained community.

Becka Olson has spent time in Seattle, LA, & NY, but now calls Brooklyn home. Although she has 15 years of experience in the fashion industry, in the last five years she had found purpose building community. You can find her around the city hosting monthy reading parties with Reading Rhythms and literary open mics with Open Book.

This panel will be moderated by Elle Wilson: Founder & CEO of Met Through Friends, and pioneer of the Plus-One Party™. She utilizes her expertise as a Certified Dating Coach to design thoughtful IRL dating experiences and support daters who want more social, fun, and productive dating lives.

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