Being fun
david.weebly.com
david.weebly.com
A master networker once explained to me that if you don't commit yourself to meeting someone (e.g. introducing yourself with energy/smile) the other person feels awkward because they have to invest energy in figuring out who you are. While if you act outgoing, then the other person doesn't feel as put upon.. If you are shy, it requires the other person to put in effort while if you act outgoing/take initiative, the other person can relax because they can see who you are (at least in the public realm)
Someone once said that if you have don't say anything in a meeting, then you should not have attended to begin with. I take this (or try to anyways) in real life. Treat any interaction as a way of getting to know someone else. Everyone is interesting, everyone has an opinion, and everybody wants to be listened to. All you have to do is the opening act. But at the end of the day you have to be sincere. If you are _not_ interested, don't bother. People can smell phoniness a mile away (thats the reason why the whole networking thing has such a bad name).
"Never Eat Alone" is a good book on this subject. I don't agree with everything he has to say, but I agree with his core philosophy. If I know you, and you succeed, then I succeed. And I will do everything I can to help me succeed. (Thats my version)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OWVdoZDsjqo
Your article is great because many young entrepreneurs aren't very social unless one is an alumni of the same college as the other, or have experience with the same technology. On the other hand, it is also a very efficient way of finding people who are exactly like oneself, in the case that a startup's business plan requires all members to look and act like clones of one another in order for it to succeed.
awesome dance, no homo.
Implicit in all the Q & A, of course, is being yourself and really caring. You don't want to ask a question because it's on your "to do list"; you ask because you really are interested. Coming off as a phony is worse than doing nothing at all.
so many of us ask "how are you" without "really caring" that it's startling to find someone who "really cares" and wants a truthful response when you ask.
I'd also add "like people." If you genuinely like other people, and you like yourself, your attitude will most likely rub people the right way.