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Networking 201: How to “work a room”

When attending a social function–whether it’s a small gathering at someone’s home, or a political fundraiser, or a room party at a convention–you are being gifted with the opportunity to meet, mingle, and make contact with a wide variety of people. What I intend to do here is give some pointers on how to get the most out of any social gathering, whether you’re there for business or for pleasure.

How to Network at a Convention

So here it is. You’re a fairly “new” writer, or at least new to the convention scene, and you desperately want to make some industry contacts in the hopes that it will make it easier to get an agent/sell your work/quit your day job and hire a cabana boy/any of the above. You decide to go to a convention, perhaps picking one of the “big” ones such as WorldCon, or World Fantasy, because you’ve heard that editors and agents are absolutely spilling out the doors.

Here are some guidelines/rules/suggestions to go by:

Writer’s Workshop at Anticipation 2009, Worldcon

Montreal – There will indeed be a writers’ workshop at Anticipation 2009, Worldcon, in Montreal this August. The workshop sessions are two hours long and scheduled at various times on various days. SFWA members participating as workshop leaders include: Delia Sherman, Mary Robinette Kowal, Catheryne Valente, Mike Shepherd Moscoe, Rich Chwedyk, Lawrence Schoen, David Levine, Nancy Kress, Tony Pi, as well as others.