I always enjoy reading the anonymous Q&A and other content. Since the exchanges are so entertaining, I’d love to get to know the staff and column writers better. Are there ever any opportunities or events like that?

Aizawa from the Tokyo branch here. As columnist Saito mentioned, we currently do have events held in a party format. Female members attend as well, but since our staff don’t arrange introductions or anything like that, they’re more like social mixers. Some men say they’re not interested in meeting other men, but I actually know several male members who became good friends with someone they met there. We also see these parties as valuable opportunities for members to talk with our staff. That said, even here, it seems to be difficult to find someone you really click with. It’s made me realize once again how challenging human relationships can be. I’ve gotten a little off track, but compared with a discussion-style event limited to male members, I think a party where you can meet women, talk with men, and chat with staff would be more enjoyable. If things don’t work out with the men, you can talk with the women, and if you feel like it, you can chat with the staff… How does that sound? As for a discussion-style event… I’ll see if I can come up with something similar!!

I’m Saito, a columnist♪ I’m a big fan of roundtable discussions. Haha. I do them from time to time too, but unless the participants have: - About the same level of risk of being recognized - Plenty of stories to share (It’s more interesting when they’ve had all kinds of bizarre, “seven wonders”-style failures than when they only have success stories) …it doesn’t really work as a roundtable discussion. Once, I tried to get friendly with a man at a party-style event hosted by Universe, but he clearly wasn’t interested. Haha. I also once became friendly with a considerably older man who did nothing but brag about himself. To top it all off, he split the bill and paid with a Centurion card, and I finally understood why female members can become so disillusioned. (I thought, “If you’re going to use a Centurion, why not just pay the whole bill?”—a completely unreasonable line of thinking. For a moment, I considered paying for everything myself, but worried it might seem rude, so I gave him the receipt showing the combined total for both of us.)

Maezawa here. I prefer one-on-one conversations to roundtable discussions, so I don’t organize them myself, but something like that could be interesting. That said, it’s unfortunate that I can’t invite someone who anonymously says they’d really like to participate.