EWIP

Yesterday, I was down in San Francisco talking about Bitch at the Exceptional Women in Publishing’s Fifth Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. That’s right, exceptional! 

We were thrilled to learn so much from other like-minded women with passion for media and be a part of the panel discussing  Best Practices in Social Media with Twitter Editorial Director Karen Wickre, VegNews Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, Google Wildfire Social Media Manager Maya Grinberg, and Maker Media Senior Editor Goli Mohammadi.

Here are three big things I learned at the exceptional conference. 

1. If you want to meet a stranger, stare them directly in the eyes while asking personal questions.  The day started with an exercise led by a group called Social Fluency. Everyone had to find a stranger, stand one foot away from each other, and stare into each other’s eyes for five straight minutes while asking questions like, “What are you passionate about?” I was not excited at all when they announced the exercise, but it worked! Dozens of women who began as mildly enthusiastic networkers ended the day buzzing. Clearly, Social Fluency is on to something, no matter how awkward those first few minutes were.