This past Monday was my birthday, and also the last meetup of 2016 for the Philly ‘burbs WordPress community. Coming off a successful WordCamp US (held for the second year in Philadelphia), it was a great chance to hang out and and catch up with some friends I didn’t get to see at the WordCamp.

I’ll be honest, I still don’t feel 100% comfortable at these events given the social nature of them. This is not due to anyone there, as they could not be more welcoming and accepting of everyone. I feel realtively new and need to make the effort to introduce myself to some people I still don’t know. But some days I just need to show up and count that as a victory.

Luckily, a few people introduced themselves and I eventually found some friends to talk to before the end of the night. The drive home is always much more relaxing as I realize how grateful I am to have found this community. It’s not just about the similar interests in WordPress and other technology that draws me to it; it’s about friendships and people genuinely being interested in sharing their lives with each other.

I hope I continue to feel more confident to meet new people in 2017.

Here’s what we learned on Monday:

Do you have a group of people to connect with and keep you accountable with your goals?