So what you need to do in that situation is smile and happily give your name + email, then set aside an hour a week to chat with people in that slack channel.

So what you need to do in that situation is smile and happily give your name + email, then set aside an hour a week to chat with people in that slack channel. Parties are not really good places to learn social skills, people are generally partially drunk and behave differently than they would anywhere else. Look at this list of hobbies [1], pick two that you think looks interesting and has a club in your local area. Then join those clubs and show up at every opportunity. If you are asked to join a special event or help out with something or join a forum/chat room then smile and say "yes, I would love to". Try to stick with the same club for at least a year. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies