Social strategy for being a host:
Introduce EVERYONE to EVERYONE.<p>If you met someone five minutes ago, introduce them to the person you met three minutes ago. If someone ask: "How do you know Bob?" you answer "I just met him."<p>You're not lying. You're not pumping anyone's ego. You are merely exchanging people's names and, if you know them quite well, a sentence or two about why they're awesome.<p>Everyone likes an introduction.<p>It's a very simple way to come across as a good host.
I did improvisational theater for a few years, and it has helped me immensely over the years. It taught me four things:<p>1) coming up with funny/interesting/smart things to converse about with just about anyone<p>2) Learning about posture, bodylanguage, eyemovement, etc. 90% of a conversation is nonverbal.<p>3) Loosen up<p>4) Being secure in front of people.<p>I would recommend it to anyone. It's a great learning experience, and hey it's fun!
This is a good article. It reminds me of a talk I saw at SHDH by a guy named Shannon Clark.<p>My main take-away from his talk was that "networking is about giving", meaning that when you are networking you shouldn't be thinking "how can this person help me?" but "how can I help this person?" - this advice is simple but has had a profound impact on how I approach networking.<p>I think that this blog post covers a large subset of what I remember of Shannon's talk: <a href="http://shannonclark.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/networking-advice-useful-business-cards-and-other-tips/" rel="nofollow">http://shannonclark.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/networking-advi...</a>
Love the contents, hate the title.<p>Better would have been, "How to Behave Like a Normal Human Being Who Cares About Others, Likes to Have Fun, and Wants to Remain Receptive to Any Benefits That May Come His Way."<p>But I guess, "How to Work the Room" is sexier.