In my early career, it was always just me and a curse-ed cursor spending our days (and often nights) together at my kitchen counter. I was a writer, which, by nature, tends to be a solitary occupation — we writers spend a lot of time in our own heads. And not only was I a lonely writer, I was a lonely freelance writer without the benefit of shop talk with coworkers.

I wouldn't have had it any other way. That lifestyle gave me the flexibility to raise a family and nurture a career when my babies' sleep schedules and first steps didn't mesh with the standard work week. But there were trade-offs, the biggest of which was that I learned to be staunchly independent and self-reliant, often to my own detriment. It's a trait I'm still unlearning.

I've grasped from talking with industry colleagues that the work experience for a lot of event marketers is not dissimilar to that of my early career. Not necessarily the freelance aspect of it, although recent surveys show the number of industry folks entering the freelance realm is trending up. It's that often, people in face-to-face marketing are departments of one with coworkers who couldn't even begin to understand their shop talk. I dare any of you to attempt a conversation about drayage during after-work cocktails with normies.

Sometimes I recall the first industry trade show I attended. I approached it like I learned to approach everything else: with a lengthy list of goals I was determined to hit with nobody's help. By my second show, I started to recognize people. By my third show, I was hugging friends and sharing work stories over coffee.

Relationships are a human need, and living in community — however you define it — is vital to our health. Yet we've co-created a culture at large that is self-reliant and bootstrapping — counter to those needs. We're not made to exist in a vacuum. Within the give and take that comes from a community is love, learning, support, and growth. There's even something to be gained — perhaps more to be gained — from interacting with the impatient guy behind you at the coffee shop or your off-putting next door neighbor, although I'll admit I don't interact much with mine.

But maybe that's okay because a community doesn't have to come from your immediate surroundings. One of mine is made up of the far-flung folks in the events industry and I've found support, learning, growth, and even love there. I'm not going to call us a family. Frankly, none of you deserve that designation until you make a passive-aggressive comment about my degree. (Yes, it was expensive and no, I'm not using it.) But we're lucky to have an international community of people to lean on who are not only willing but often eager to swap stories, share resources, and exchange tips to make the industry stronger.

This issue is devoted heavily to building community, both within the industry and on the show floor because in a lot of ways, once you get beyond the nuts and bolts of sign-hanging regulations, that's what it's all about. Our info-packed feature on Gen Z will tell you how to pull those just entering the workforce into your orbit as their careers take off. We have a fascinating and wide-ranging interview with New York Times bestselling author of “Supercommunicators,” Charles Duhigg, on how to connect with people instead of talk at them. And EXHIBITOR's editorial team is so proud to announce this year's Sizzle Award Winners. In an industry that embraces technology with gusto, it's exciting to see that this year's group of honorees also went a little analog to create human connection and rock-hard abs on the show floor (I'll wait while you click here to see what I'm hinting at).

Even if we never interact, and what a shame if we don't, thank you for being in community with me. This lonely writer remains ever grateful. E