I’m attending an awards reception with my partner soon. They’re in the creative field and pictures of past parties look pretty fun, with drinks and a DJ etc. The problem is I have never been to a work party or industry event ever! Not for myself and not with a partner. Usually if I have to go to a party I drink and that helps me relax. But I don’t want to get drunk in front of his peers. What do I talk about? I don’t know anything about his industry other than what he tells me. Do you mingle? How do you go up to strangers and just start conversations? Or even know when it’s ok to approach people? I work in hospitality so our jobs are pretty different and mine isn’t very interesting or impressive. Help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
2 comments
A glass of wine win’t hurt and gives you something to hold.onto. But it’s just mundane stuff like what do you do, you ready for xmas? Usual boring stuff!!
In a room where everyone does similar work, you are inherently interesting – it just depends on how much you open yourself up to conversation. I am not in the creative field – I feel like I should give that disclaimer lol. But when I got to socials for scientific meetings, I just try my best to make chit chat with people around me about what’s around us. So if I’m grabbing a drink, I may just ask someone what theyre drinking if it looks interesting (for food, it’s easier to go “ooh what’s this! They look just like hush puppies! this is my first time here, etc.”). I try to just say something short, vaguely interesting about myself, and ask them questions about themselves. You can ask questions about their work, but also feel free to ask more broad questions about how they’re doing, if they’re from the area – you can share that you’re there with your spouse. Also okay to just talk about the food or drink, that can be great because it can lead to sharing about experiences like trying different restaurants or traveling.
I’ll add: I try to approach individuals, not groups. I look for an obvious point of entry, like commenting on their drink or asking if I can sit next to them. If your spouse is around, you can let them lead the chatting and introduce you to people.
My main point here is to not feel too shy about walking up to strangers and to also let the conversation be whatever it is. Everyone is a little awkward when in a big room of people that they may not know everyone so don’t feel bad if a social interaction feels abrupt or awkward, just let it cut off and shrug it off, then chat with someone else.