Conference Etiquette: What’s New?
So Bill Brenner has a great article on “How to survive security conferences: 4 tips for the socially anxious
.” I’d like to stand by my 2010 guide to “Black Hat Best Practices,” and augment it with something new: a word on etiquette.
Etiquette is not about what fork you use (start from the outside, work in), or an excuse to make you uncomfortable because you forgot to call the Duke “Your Grace.” It’s a system of tools to help otherwise awkward social interactions go more smoothly.
We all meet a lot of people at these conferences, and there’s some truth behind the stereotype that people in technology are bad at “the people skills.” Sometimes, when we see someone, there will be recognition, but the name and full context doesn’t come rushing back. That’s an awkward moment, and it’s worth thinking about the etiquette involved.
When you know you’ve met someone and can’t recall the details, it’s rude to say “remind me who you are,” and so people will do a bunch of things to politely encourage reminders. For example, they’ll say “what’s new” or “what have you been working on lately?” Answers like “nothing new” or “same old stuff” are not helpful to the person who asked. This is an invitation to talk about your work. Even if you haven’t done anything new that’s ready to talk about, you can say something like “I’m still exploring the implications of the work I did on X” or “I’ve wrapped up my project on Y, and I’m looking for a new thing to go frozzle.” If all your work is secret, you can say “Oh, still at DoD, doing stuff for Uncle Sam.”
Whatever your answer will be, it should include something to help people remember who you are.
Why not give it a try this RSA?
BTW, you can get the best list of RSA parties where you can yell your answers to such questions at “RSA Parties Calendar.”