Connection Club™

Friends having beers in front of a colorful mural

I created Connection Club™ in 2020 and ran it until March 2024. I created it for people who want to strengthen their existing friendships and connect with others doing the same thing.

Changes are coming for Connection Club™ in 2024. In the meantime, check out Platonic Action Lab!

Examples of member goals

  • Leading & Deepening

    “I want to cultivate connections by doing more leading and deepening. For the past two years, I’ve joined many different groups, and I’d like to be more of an organizer and facilitator this year.”

  • Adding more variety

    “I’m thinking about how I attune to the overall health of my relational diversity. Seeing where there’s lack and overabundance. Getting more fulfillment from having a variety of relationship types.”

  • Honesty & Mutuality

    “I want to add people to my life that make my life better. I’m interested in honest conversations, sharing space, and building on our mutual interests.”

  • Embracing spontaneity

    “I want the option to spend time with friends simply Being Together. Not necessarily having structure or agendas, but just a free spontaneous time being together.”

  • Facilitating groups

    “I want to grow my skills as a facilitator this year. I have this dream of running peer groups, and volunteering to provide the community with mutual aid.”

  • Sprinkling in novelty

    “I want to deepen my existing friendships by adding novelty to our interactions. Conversation over coffee or a meal are great, but I’d like to have new experiences together.”

  • Building community

    “This year I want to focus on building a community of curious humans who can introduce me to new ideas, inspire me, and maybe even build new things with me.”

  • I'm going to be a joiner

    “I’m going to identify a new group where people with the same interests and values may be and attend their meetups/social gatherings”

Founder & Facilitator

Kat Vellos is a trusted expert on the power of cultivating meaningful connections, building friendships and community, and creating healthy work environments.

She’s the author of We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships which was called “marvelous” by BookLife, a subsidiary of Publishers Weekly. Kirkus Reviews gave the book glowing reviews that were echoed by legions of readers. Since its release in January 2020, it’s been helping adults around the world heal from disconnection and loneliness.

A veteran facilitator, Kat has twenty years of experience creating communities where people find belonging and authentic connection. Kat also founded Better than Small Talk and Bay Area Black Designers which was profiled by Forbes.

Kat frequently speaks at companies, conferences, and in the media. Some of her press highlights include The New York Times, Forbes, NPR, Communication Arts, The Good Life Project, Design Observer’s The Design of Business | The Business of Design, The Wall Street Journal, and Hurry Slowly. She’s spoken at TEDx Talks, San Francisco Design Week, The Atlantic’s Pursuit of Happiness conference, Rosenfeld’s DesignOps Summit, and many more.