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Got burned by a networking event last month in Austin
I went to this big entrepreneurial mixer at a co-working space downtown, paid $50 to get in, and spent two hours watching people just hand out business cards without listening. Nobody actually wanted to talk, they just wanted to pitch their app or service at you. How do you all break through that surface level stuff at these things without sounding pushy yourself?
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williamm821mo ago
Man, that sounds exhausting. I've been to way too many of those things and it's usually the same drill. What works for me is showing up with a genuine question about something they're working on, not just "what do you do?" but like "what's the hardest part of building that right now?" People love talking about their problems, and it actually opens a real conversation instead of a pitch fest. Also, if you can find the person standing alone near the food or the bar, that's usually gold because they're actually looking for a human connection not just a sales target. I try to keep my own intro to three sentences max, then immediately ask about them. It's weird how fast the room changes when you stop trying to sell yourself and just act curious instead.
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felix_hayes641mo ago
The food table thing is dead on, every time I've had a real conversation at one of those things it's started with someone just grabbing a napkin near me. It's wild how much easier it is to talk when you're both just standing there eating instead of trying to work the room.
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sean7821mo ago
Wait, is this really that deep though? I feel like people overthink these social situations way more than they need to. @felix_hayes64 got it right - just standing near the food and grabbing a napkin works fine. You dont need a strategy or a plan, sometimes you just say "hey this salsa is actually good" and boom you're talking to someone. Honestly half the time I think the whole "work the room" thing is just in peoples heads anyway.
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