I once traveled to a conference with my PhD supervisor, and I confessed how slimy networking was making me uncomfortable. He said, without any irony: 'you're not here to network, you're here to make friends!'
Treating it that way, just be honest about what I do, what they do etc. definitely helped me make a bunch of friends, if they're useful for my career it's an added bonus.
(If you're a supervisor reading this: please make sure that if you're at a thing with your students, take pains to go around and introduce them to as many people as you can, it helps tremendously)
Treating it that way, just be honest about what I do, what they do etc. definitely helped me make a bunch of friends, if they're useful for my career it's an added bonus.
(If you're a supervisor reading this: please make sure that if you're at a thing with your students, take pains to go around and introduce them to as many people as you can, it helps tremendously)