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I share your general distaste for this stuff, but remember that by getting out, going to events, having a lot of conversations, you will also encounter people w

I share your general distaste for this stuff, but remember that by getting out, going to events, having a lot of conversations, you will also encounter people who are not full of shit. Networking doesn't have to be all buzzwords and phony smiles. If it is, you're not networking with the right people. The term has been captured, so substitute 'talking shop', 'sharing ideas', 'finding inspiration'. Whatever you call it, it can enrich your life and it doesn't have to be shallow or unpleasant. All it really means is getting to know others in the world around you and keeping an eye out for mutually beneficial opportunities.

mentat 16y ago
"you will also encounter people who are not full of shit" I'm particularly curious about how to maximize this. Is it a fixed percentage that you have to get out more to increase the number of not full of shit people you meet? I've long felt "there's got to be a better way". Theoretically comments on HN could be part of how you meet these people but really I like talking to people face to face and on IM. Where's the social graph of people I would think are not full of shit but I don't know already?
- bergie 16y ago
  In the field of open source, a good indicator is whether an event costs something. The free ones are full of people interested in having beers and talking about code. The expensive ones have suits discussing leveraging strategic synergies of converging core competencies, or whatever. In Europe this means that great events to have interesting conversations include Fosdem, the Desktop Summits, etc. I'd love to hear what events in US are like that.