E-minting
I’ve been a member of the e-mint email list for a few months now. It’s a group of people involved in online community management, so lots of community managers and related people including software developers and product developers who have an interest in the field. They hold meetups every few months but for one reason or another I’ve never made it along.
You might not know it if you only know me online, but I’m very self conscious and can be quiet with people when I first meet them. Except in gay bars, oddly, where I seem to have no fear of walking up to random strangers and striking up to conversation (even without alcohol), so I was pretty apprehensive about meeting people in person that I’d only ever emailed before.
I made it along to their last meet a couple of weeks ago and surprised myself by walking straight up to the first loner I spotted across the room and introducing myself. It turned out she worked for a competitor of a company I work with so it was interesting chat, but colleagues joined her very soon after. Then I found someone else who became my ‘introductions buddy’ for the rest of the evening, we agreed to team up and jointly infiltrate the many other groups which had formed and introduce each-other. Sadly, we didn’t weasel our way in with as many people as we’d intended and ended up speaking to just a few people, though all were very interesting! We also ended up being two of the last to leave. Typically, once I got home, I found out there were a few people I’ve been desperate to meet for a long time, but I’ll be more alert next time! I’ve also made a list of demands – err, suggestions – including name badges and a check list of attendees at the door so you can see who’s already arrived ahead of you and who may be turning up later.
I highly enjoyed myself, I’m pleased I pushed myself to talk to people and made a few useful contacts. I’ve got a similar event lined up for tomorrow evening so I’m hoping to improve on my face to face social interaction techniques there 
