I was having lunch with my friend and colleague Dorie Clark one day when she asked, “Do you know Chris Schembra of the 7:47 Club? If not, You MUST meet him.” I hadn’t met him or heard of him, but when I looked him up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. With a name like the 7:47 Club, I thought maybe he was in the airline business. Nope! Chris curates dinners where people make and eat spaghetti—together.

Chris gets it! Not only do we share a love of spaghetti dinners as a way of bringing people together, but we’re also both obsessed with rituals. For starters, I would soon learn that the name 7:47 Club doesn’t refer to a Boeing jet (probably a good thing these days!), but represents the exact time at each gathering when attendees begin their communal dinner. Chris is a connector after my own heart.