by Alycia W. Morales   @AlyciaMorales

Networking at a conference is one of the best things you can do for your writing career. But if you’re new, you may not know where to start when you enter a room filled with a few hundred people. Especially if you’re like most writers – introverted.

Here are 21 networking opportunities:

1. Get to know your roommate.
2. Attend the “newbie” Maximize Your Conference Experience class.
3. Introduce yourself to the people sitting on each side of you at the group sessions. To get the conversation started, you can ask what they write about. Or if this is their first conference or not. Or what they love to read.
4. Take note of who is in class with you. They are likely in the same place you are in their career.
5. Make sure you have your business cards with you. Swap them with other people. Write down information to remember them by on the back of their cards.
6. While you’re in line for meals, chat with the people you’re in line with. There’s plenty of time to hold a conversation before you get to the trays and the food.
7. Take advantage of the dining hall tables. Sure, you’d like to talk with the faculty member who sits at that table, but get to know the people you’re eating with also. Again, chances are you have something in common if you’re at a particular faculty member’s table.
8. Sign up for 15-minute appointments with faculty. This is a great time to network with them. They may have a tip on who to contact if they can’t help you. Which leads to more networking.
9. Ask questions in class. For example, I heard one faculty member mention mentoring. I asked another faculty member if she thought that was wise. I ended up with a mentor. Networking success!
10. Greet the person sitting next to you waiting for an appointment. Find out who they’re meeting with, what they write, and if they want to practice their pitch one last time.
11. Offer to help the person who looks lost. They’ll be grateful, and it will give you a few minutes to talk while you show them how to get to the classroom they can’t find.
12. Buy someone a coffee. A little schmoozing never hurts.
13. Look around you. So many people focus on getting to talk to the faculty, they forget to talk to other conferees. You may be sitting next to someone who isn’t on faculty this year but happens to be an author or editor in the industry. Or they may be a future editor who will remember your kind conversation.
14. Watch the genre night parade. Who’s dressed in your genre? Those conferees would make great critique partners.
15. Make an outgoing friend. Let them introduce you to other people.
16. If you meet someone who you know would network well with someone else, introduce them.
17. Ask for help. Sometimes it’s a hard thing to do, but you may meet someone you click with.
18. See a need? Offer to fill it. Just make sure it’s a need and not something you’d personally like to see change.
19. Take advantage of what we like to call “lobby time.” After hours, you will find several people hanging out in the lobby at Mt. Laurel. This is a wonderful time of fellowship, laughter, and developing friendships.
20. Bring a board game with you. I’ve met or gotten to know several friends while trying to be King of Tokyo.
21. Be yourself. That’s who people will enjoy networking with. We’re all writers. We get that we’re a little different than most of the population. You’ll fit right in.

10 things to avoid when networking:

1. Talking about yourself and only yourself and never asking questions about the person you’re talking with.
2. Hogging the conversation. Because you know far more than anyone else at the table or in the classroom.
3. Approaching agents and editors when they’re in the bathroom. Believe me, it happens.
4. Talking smack about someone else at the conference or on faculty. Word gets around, FYI.
5. Offer to do anything the agent/editor/author needs in an attempt at personal gain.
6. Interrupt the faculty when they’re teaching or giving a keynote to provide your own input.
7. Knock on bedroom doors after hours.
8. Verbally throw up on someone when they ask you a question, particularly, “How’d your appointment go?”
9. Tell whoever you’re talking to that God ordained your meeting.
10. Have an answer for everything brought up in conversation.

One of the first things you’ll notice at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference is how friendly everyone is. We do our best to create a family-like atmosphere. You’ll find that the faculty and returning conferees are more than happy to talk with you, help you, teach you, and provide encouragement and prayer. If for any reason you are uncomfortable or feel like a wall flower, please step out of your comfort zone and try one of the 21 networking suggestions. You’ll be surprised to find that there are many others like you all around.

Can you think of any other ways to network at the writers conference? Share your networking tips with us!

Alycia Morales is an author and freelance editor with really thick skin. An introvert at heart, she comes alive when networking at writers conferences. She has been published in magazines such as Splickety Love and Thriving Family. Her devotions and short stories have been in multiple anthologies. Her editing clients have won several awards for their writing.

When she isn’t busy writing and editing, she loves to read, go hiking, and craft. She lives in Upstate SC with her hubby, four kids, and several pets. She can always be bribed with chocolate.