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After 32 years in the information profession, countless conferences, more “networking events” than any pair of heels can recall, and taking Ken Haycock’s sessions on networking & influencing at least once/year (plus reading his favourite book, Work the Pond), I confess that, depending on the day, my knees quake at walking into a room of people I don’t know. Some days networking is the hardest work I do.

Note that this is Rebecca, not Jane; Jane, like Ken Haycock, is a brilliant networker. If you get a chance, watch her and, better yet, talk with her at an event. She has trained me over the years, and I came to realize that the foremost competency for information professionals is also the best competency for networking. Curiousity. You’ve heard me go on about it before. Here it is again. Curiousity. It is curiousity that drives us to be the best at matching information solutions with client problems, and it is curiousity that drives us to ably engage in conversations. Networking is about finding out about people.

FastCompany has a wonderful short article “Hate Small Talk? 5 Questions to Ably Work Any Room.” Check it out — it is terrific. I’ve used some of these questions, but not all — and I certainly will.

“What’s your connection to the event?”This question can uncover mutual contacts and usually leads to a more robust answer than if you asked the typical “Have you been to this event before?” Excellent “What’s keeping you busy when

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