Hi @whiteliquor! I definitely gained a better sense of the SteemIt community - yes, Steemians are very supportive and it's great to connect to so many people around the world that are grateful and happy to be on SteemIt too, however, there's something extra special when you have the human to human interaction element behind the community. Synergy usually happen faster since you're face-to-face and can feel the genuinely of someone's thoughts, dreams, feelings, and goals. I felt like meetups are great for meeting others that are on the same mission as you are on SteemIt, whether that be gaining advice, more friends, followers, collaborators, and future partners.