DISQUS

I wouldn't necessarily say I'm shy, but I am definitely an introvert so sometimes I can get a little overwhelmed with the thought of "all those people" at a conference. So, I make myself a goal to start or join conversations with at least 3-4 people each day. For me, that is enough to get me talking without becoming that annoying guy/gal who is "networking" (i.e. carpet-bombing the convention with their business cards.)

Also, my friend Liz always ends our conversations with "What can I help you with?" Might not work if you're talking with a group of people, but it's really effective one-on-one. "Wow, I'm talking with a real person who is interested in me/my work and wants to help. Awesome!"

I ran across this article a few months ago and thought this family created a pretty good set of guidelines and rules around cell phone usage for their 14 y.o. son:

http://thesuburbanscrawl.blogspot.com/2008/03/c...

Fortunately, our daughter's only two, so I have a few years before we have to deal with this. They'll probably be implanting cell phone chips directly into their brains by then! :)

Another source of ideas (potential participants) would be Improv Everywhere (http://improveverywhere.com). I'd love to see the hidden camera footage of one of these "HR Seminars"!