This Q&A is a part of Observer’s Professional Insights collection, the place trade leaders, innovators and strategists distill years of expertise into direct, sensible takeaways and ship readability on the problems shaping their industries. At a time when loneliness is being referred to as a public well being disaster and practically half of U.S. adults say they battle to make pals, Liv Schreiber is proving that connection could be designed. And that pleasure is contagious when completed proper. As founder and CEO of Camp Social, a fast-growing group and occasions platform, Schreiber has constructed a enterprise round one thing most of us crave however not often prioritize: actual human connection.
Her strategy is something however odd. Camp Social doesn’t depend on contrived icebreakers or staged exclusivity. As an alternative, it invitations individuals to indicate up solo and depart with a way of belonging, whether or not by group hikes, paddleboarding periods, yoga flows or roundtable dinners. Ninety-nine % of attendees come alone, and one hundred pc depart with new pals. For Schreiber, the method is straightforward however intentional: create an environment that’s heat, energetic and protected sufficient for individuals to drop their guard.
From navigating intergenerational friendships to balancing the attain of digital platforms with the depth of offline experiences, Schreiber’s work is a reminder that social connection is a ability—and a enterprise—value cultivating.
What key substances make individuals really feel protected and open at social occasions?
It begins with making individuals really feel snug being themselves in a brand new surroundings. Which means creating an environment that’s heat, low-pressure, and welcoming, like freshman yr of school, the place everybody’s one way or the other in the identical boat. At Camp Social, we do that by small particulars: encouraging individuals to return solo (99 % arrive solo and one hundred pc depart as pals), bonding over enjoyable actions like paddleboarding, yoga and hikes as an alternative of cringey group icebreakers, shared meals at roundtables, uplifting music, management workers and I demonstrating how excited we’re to have our campers with us.
The purpose is to make it simple for individuals to speak, chuckle and join, with out overthinking it, feeling like they’re at dwelling, not visiting.
How do you curate a crowd with out making it really feel curated?
I give attention to vibe over visuals. It’s not about everybody dressing the identical or wanting the identical. In truth, our big selection of ages and variety are one thing I’m most pleased with. We appeal to the vibe we put out: we would like people who find themselves sort, open, enthusiastic.
Folks you’d need subsequent to you at a campfire or a dance get together. It’s much less about exclusivity and extra about making a room full of people that make one another really feel good and are available in with open, optimistic, excited attitudes.
What has constructing Camp Social taught you about feminine friendship, and what are we nonetheless getting fallacious?
We’ve been taught that friendships ought to really feel easy, however actual connection takes intentionality. Camp Social has proven me that the majority ladies need deeper friendships; they simply don’t at all times have the time or house of their day-to-day lives. So we created an area the place you don’t need to play it cool or play a sport in any respect. You may present up, be your self, and know that everybody else is seeking to join, too. It’s instantaneous.
How do you stability digital attain with offline authenticity?
Social media will get individuals within the door, however what makes them keep is how they really feel as soon as they’re there. The offline expertise majorly exceeds the web hype. That’s the way it ought to at all times be. The American Psychiatric Affiliation’s 2023 ballot discovered 30 % of adults expertise loneliness a minimum of as soon as every week, and 10 % really feel lonely each single day, with adults 18 to 34 most affected. We have to really feel pleasure and group in actual life!
Considerate moments, epic goodies, good dialog, surprising enjoyable, that’s what retains it actual. When individuals depart saying, “I really feel like I simply made 100 new finest pals,” that’s the win. And that’s what builds actual group, not only a following. I’m tired of catfishing.
What recommendation would you give somebody who’s moved to New York and doesn’t know the right way to make pals?
To start with, you’re not alone. Lots of people really feel that manner (1 in 2 adults within the U.S.), that’s why I began my companies. Most individuals are simply ready for another person to make the primary transfer. So be the one who reaches out. Say sure to issues. Invite somebody for espresso, even when it feels awkward. You don’t want 1,000,000 pals, you simply want one unimaginable individual. And in case you don’t know the place to begin, that’s actually why we constructed Camp Social. You need to be a villager to have a village, so be sure to feed the flame as soon as it begins.
The Camp Social viewers is anybody younger at coronary heart. What’s so particular about intergenerational friendships, and the way must you go about making intergenerational connections
Intergenerational friendships are the key sauce nobody’s speaking about! They stretch your perspective and produce a sort of grounding that same-age friendships generally can’t. Having a buddy who’s 20 years older than you reminds you that belongings you’re stressing about may not matter in the long term, and having a youthful buddy retains you curious and plugged in.
A 2023 Journal of Social and Private Relationships research discovered that adults with significant intergenerational relationships reported greater ranges of life satisfaction, emotional regulation and even cognitive perform. One other survey by Generations United revealed that 92 % of People imagine intergenerational relationships scale back loneliness, and solely 26 % say they’ve them repeatedly. That hole says all the things. We want Camp Social.
What’s particular is that each individuals deliver one thing useful to the desk: tales, knowledge, humor, new references, new methods of pondering. It’s like discovering prequels and sequels of your favourite guide that you just didn’t know you wanted.
Folks should drop the belief that friendship has to look a sure manner. Keep open to connection in surprising locations, a coworker, a neighbor, somebody at your fitness center or your mother’s finest buddy. Friendship is about shared vitality and a mutual willingness to indicate up for one another.
Among the most significant connections I’ve seen at Camp Social have been between individuals with completely completely different backgrounds, careers, and ages. That’s the great thing about it: we’re all simply people on the lookout for individuals who get us. In case you’re fortunate, generally, that one who will get you isn’t in your age bracket. That’s the sweetness.
Camp Social has grown rapidly in a notoriously hard-to-scale house: human connection. What methods have been simplest in translating one thing so private right into a sustainable, rising enterprise?
Camp Social grew quick as a result of I by no means handled it like an “occasion.” It seems like household, and I deal with my campers and workers like household. We have now created moments—charcuterie boards and firepits at sundown, letters-to-themselves stations and friendship bracelets, dance events at dinner, customization of particular person schedules and out of doors film nights—that made ladies really feel seen and a part of one thing greater than themselves. Phrase of mouth is our greatest development channel. Each camper has develop into a model evangelist as a result of they weren’t simply attending, they had been belonging.
That intimacy scales once you construct techniques round it—surveys, bunk assignments, diligently skilled workers who’re an extension of me—so that each girl nonetheless seems like she received a customized, magical expertise, even at a 1000-person scale. The variety of attendees and recognition don’t and can by no means matter to me. It’s the standard of expertise that I’m chargeable for.
Have you ever confronted moments when scaling threatened to dilute the “magic” of Camp Social? How did you shield the integrity of the expertise whereas rising?
After all there have been moments the place I fearful, however I simply created what I wished to expertise and eliminated what would stress me as a shopper. To guard the “magic,” I doubled down on small touches—welcome notes, deliberately curated bunkmate pairings, shock activations that really feel intimate and are solely manufacturers that I truly use and love. Saying no to what doesn’t align, regardless of the greenback provide.
The larger we received, the extra necessary it grew to become to weave in micro-moments of intimacy and say no to the massive guys that don’t align. Each human contact level issues, and scaling didn’t imply diluting. It meant extra designing for intimacy at scale. It’s a duty I’m grateful for.
Are there classes from Camp Social that would translate into company or office tradition? How can corporations make groups really feel extra linked and artistic?
Camp Social proved one thing I believe each firm ought to take note of: connection fuels creativity. Folks do their finest work and keep longer after they really feel emotionally protected and socially plugged in—with out being hooked up to work 24/7. Present communal meals that aren’t “networking” however true bonding. Actions that the corporate can provide for workers of their downtime or throughout lunch. Camp Social is proof that once you construct infrastructure round belonging—and again it with intentional leaders and workers, productiveness and retention comply with.
In your view, what’s the way forward for community-driven manufacturers? The place do you see this house heading within the subsequent 5 years, and the way will Camp Social evolve to satisfy it?
We’re in a loneliness epidemic, but in addition a renaissance of group. The long run belongs to manufacturers that don’t simply promote a product—they create belonging. In 5 years, I see community-driven manufacturers mixing IRL and digital seamlessly, providing memberships, merchandise, retreats and always-on touchpoints that stretch past one-off transactions. For Camp Social, which means scaling into memberships, international retreats and digital platforms the place the magic of connection continues year-round. It’s not simply camp. It’s a life-style. I’m glad the enterprise world is lastly listening.
