Conferences and Pac Man

On the emailgeeks slack channel someone asked for advice about going to conferences. There were lots of great suggestions. I threw in the Pac Man Rule and realised a lot of folks haven’t heard of it before.

Eric Holscher created the Pac Man rule. The rule is really simple. If you’re standing in a group talking at a conference a circle can make it challenging for new people to join you. But, if you leave a space for another person to join you by standing in the shape of a Pac Man, you’re inviting new people to join.

Here’s a video explaining:

Going to a conference? Yes! Introduce yourself. Say hello. Chat to people. They're lovely. Really! And if you're already chatting in a group, make your group approachable using @ericholscher's Pac-Man Rule.

Here's how it works.

Have fun! pic.twitter.com/QklklD43Me

— Dylan Beattie (@dylanbeattie) March 29, 2019

I’ve found this really useful and helpful both when I’ve been in conversations and when I’ve wanted to join conversations.