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I can't help but shake the feeling that a more accurate title would be: "Fuck networking. Just be better at networking."

by jmduke 13y ago

khafra 13y ago
Yes, we nerds should know this trick: It's exactly like when we were kids, and they told us "don't try to be cool." What we really needed to do was not get caught trying to be cool; needed to try so hard that we made it our identity rather than a detectable affectation.
- jtbigwoo 13y ago
  I wish I had known in high school that they meant, "Don't try to be cool, just make being cool the central focus of your life." Thank God the definition of cool gets much more flexible after high school.
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  This article can be summarized as "Honestly, just don't be an utter knob". Just talk to people like they are your friends. I usually start off by talking about music and other interests before drilling down into work talk which everyone hates but can stand for a minute.
jtbigwoo 13y ago
Right. I'm fairly outgoing, but I still have to turn on the "socialize with strangers" switch in my brain if I'm at a conference. If I don't, I end up spending all my time talking to friends rather than making new connections. Articles like this are useful, though, for explaining what good networking looks like. Having a picture of the process makes a big difference for me when I'm trying to improve or do something I don't do very often.
- mcv 13y ago
  I suck at networking, or any kind of social interaction that doesn't at least involve some dice. So if I follow the "fuck networking, just be human" advice, that means I'm not going to be meeting a lot of people. Then again, I don't really want to meet a lot of people. But making one or two really good connections every once in a while would probably be nice. In fact, at a recent GDG Devfest, I spoke with a couple of people who were all passionate about teaching programming to young kids. I want to keep in touch, gave them my card, and then forgot who they were. I'm terrible at remembering people, even if they're really cool and we spoke passionately.
  - jtbigwoo 13y ago
    After you speak to someone you want to remember, you might try excusing yourself to the restroom to make a note on your phone. Or recording a voice memo in your car on the way home with all the information you can remember about various people.

I can't help but shake the feeling that a more accurate title would be: "Fuck networking. Just be better at networking."

by jmduke 13y ago

I can't help but shake the feeling that a more accurate title would be: "Fuck networking. Just be better at networking."

khafra 13y ago

Yes, we nerds should know this trick: It's exactly like when we were kids, and they told us "don't try to be cool." What we really needed to do was not get caught trying to be cool; needed to try so hard that we made it our identity rather than a detectable affectation.

jtbigwoo 13y ago
I wish I had known in high school that they meant, "Don't try to be cool, just make being cool the central focus of your life." Thank God the definition of cool gets much more flexible after high school.
rfnslyr 13y ago
This article can be summarized as "Honestly, just don't be an utter knob". Just talk to people like they are your friends. I usually start off by talking about music and other interests before drilling down into work talk which everyone hates but can stand for a minute.

jtbigwoo 13y ago

Right. I'm fairly outgoing, but I still have to turn on the "socialize with strangers" switch in my brain if I'm at a conference. If I don't, I end up spending all my time talking to friends rather than making new connections. Articles like this are useful, though, for explaining what good networking looks like. Having a picture of the process makes a big difference for me when I'm trying to improve or do something I don't do very often.

mcv 13y ago
I suck at networking, or any kind of social interaction that doesn't at least involve some dice. So if I follow the "fuck networking, just be human" advice, that means I'm not going to be meeting a lot of people. Then again, I don't really want to meet a lot of people. But making one or two really good connections every once in a while would probably be nice. In fact, at a recent GDG Devfest, I spoke with a couple of people who were all passionate about teaching programming to young kids. I want to keep in touch, gave them my card, and then forgot who they were. I'm terrible at remembering people, even if they're really cool and we spoke passionately.
- jtbigwoo 13y ago
  After you speak to someone you want to remember, you might try excusing yourself to the restroom to make a note on your phone. Or recording a voice memo in your car on the way home with all the information you can remember about various people.