[thelist] [OT] a day at a conference...

[Luther, Ron]

Hi Erick,


Congrats on the new job!  [That's not an easy thing these days!]

Hmmm ... since it is a new job, my guess is that you've been out
interviewing lately.  I would suggest that 'networking' is kinda like
'interviewing' - in the sense that a good portion of it has to do with
your attitude and how you 'project' yourself.  [Nobody likes to talk to
that crabby guy in the back room that kicks and curses the server    ;-)
... so you need to smile and project confidence, friendliness, and 'high
energy'.]

You'll probably overhear dozens of 'ice-breakers' watching the other
folks 'network' ... stuff like "What did you think of the speaker?"
"Did you understand what the speaker meant when they said 'x'?  Can you
explain that to me?"  "Oh - You're [in California | work for {big
company}] ... you must know 'Bob'.  No?  So what area do you work in?"

Another approach heard a lot is the "What do you folks do about 'problem
x'?  We're running into trouble with it and I'm not sure which approach
to take."  Put the 'older guys' in a position where they can 'help out
da kid'.

Best of Luck ... I think this kind of thing can be pretty stressful for
a lot of techie folks.

HTH,

RonL.


-----Original Message-----
From: Erick Papadakis [mailto:erick_papadakis at yahoo.com]
Subject: [thelist] [OT] a day at a conference...

so i have a question for you guys. what does one do to
network?

i mean, at a conference, how do you really
start out with total strangers who are 10-15 years
older than you and are there looking for "business
opportunities"?