The hard part about networking

Have you ever felt uncomfortable trying to network with strangers at a conference or event?

Years ago, I went to a few conferences excited to learn new skills and meet new people.  I learned new things, bet met few new people, because I stayed in my own comfy social circle.

Later, I tried to be more strategic, identifying key people to connect with.  I even played around with different tactics, like targeting not the keynote speakers everyone’s trying to talk to, but the coordinators and monitors who have access to these key people.

I even read books on how to hold interesting conversations, like asking questions about people’s personal life, how things are like in their organization, goals, and obstacles (POGO).

But this wasn’t fun.

What would it look like if it was fun?

If you were just yourself and assumed you lived in interesting life with interesting stories to share?

How could you make networking irrelevant because you genuinely cared for people and brought value to your relationships?

Thanks for caring!

With gratitude,

Anwell Tsai