We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships

We Should Get Together is the handbook for anyone who's ready for better friendships, now.

• Have you recently moved to a new city and are struggling to make friends?
• Do you find yourself constantly making plans with friends that fall through?
• Are you more likely to see your friends' social media posts than their faces?

You aren't alone. Millions of adults struggle with an uncomfortable and persistent ache: platonic longing, which is the unfulfilled wish for authentic, resilient, close friendships. But it doesn't have to be this way. Making and maintaining friendships during adulthood can be hard--or, with a bit of intention and creativity, joyful.

Author Kat Vellos, experience designer and founder of Better Than Small Talk, tackles the four most common challenges of adult friendship: constant relocation, full schedules, the demands of partnership and family, and our culture's declining capacity for compassion and intimacy in the age of social media. Combining expert research and personal stories pulled from conversations with hundreds of adults, We Should Get Together is the modern handbook for making and maintaining stronger friendships.

With this book you will learn to:

• Make and maintain friendships when you (or your friends) keep moving
• Have deeper and more meaningful conversations
• Triumph over awkwardness in social situations
• Become less dependent on your phone
• Identify and prioritize quality connections
• Find time for friendship despite your busy calendar
• Create closer, more durable friendships

Full of relatable stories, practical tips, 60 charming illustrations, 55 suggested activities, a book club discussion guide, and 300+ conversation starters, We Should Get Together is the perfect book for anyone who wants to have dedicated, life-enriching friends, and who wants to be that kind of friend, too.

Kat Vellos is a trusted expert on the power of cultivating meaningful connections, the loneliness epidemic, community-building, and healthy work environments. She's the author of We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships and Connected from Afar: A Guide for Staying Close When You're Far Away. Her debut book, We Should Get Together, was called "marvelous" and was an Editor's pick starred review in BookLife, a subsidiary of Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews compared it to the work of Norman Vincent Peale and Cicero. Since its release in January 2020, We Should Get Together has been helping adults around the world heal from disconnection and loneliness. The follow-on addendum Connected from Afar helps adults deepen their friendships despite being physically separated by quarantine, social distancing, and geographical distance.
 
Vellos has twenty years' experience creating communities where people find belonging and authentic connection. A veteran facilitator, she founded Better than Small Talk and Bay Area Black Designers which was profiled by Forbes. Her interviews can be found in a variety of media publications including The New York Times, The Good Life Project, Forbes, Communication Arts, Thrive Global, Hurry Slowly, Creative Mornings, and Real Simple. Vellos is also a sought-after speaker who has graced the stages of TEDx, San Francisco Design Week, Design for America, the Transforming Loneliness Summit, Rosenfeld Media's DesignOps Summit, and many more. 

As a speaker, facilitator and writer, Vellos uses her UX expertise to combat the loneliness epidemic, by helping millions of people experience greater wellness and fulfillment through thriving platonic relationships.