We're standing in the reading room (where the opening and closing ceremony for the workshop takes place). I arrived with my roommate, Bianca, she introduced me to Pascal, a friend from school. I grabbed Oliver, a friend from school, and we did introductions all over again.
We're all getting along splendidly, we are doing very well at small talk. Pascal told some bad jokes, we laughed. Oliver and Bianca made comparisons between our name-tags (the way in which we were wearing them), they were all different. Oliver wearing his board member badge, Bianca with a thick key-ring lanyard, Pascal with it pinned to his shirt, and myself with an odd lanyard from this year's UA IT Summit. So, all in all, it is a great way to start the camp.
But then, of course, inevitably, a lull comes. An elongated pause, what some may call an awkward moment. Not to worry though! I have come prepared. I quickly sift through my bag to find my conversation starter pack. It is a box filled with questions meant to spark a conversation. I get a couple laughs, but that's okay, they're not malicious or hurtful. The question is selected at random, it reads "If you could create a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign for any company, which company would you choose?"
Unfortunately, this did not strike up a conversation. It did get us laughing and out of the awkward pause though. So, I think it was successful at its job.
That was the first hour of JDW this year, incredibly excited for the next couple of days. Goal: be a friend to everyone.
We're all getting along splendidly, we are doing very well at small talk. Pascal told some bad jokes, we laughed. Oliver and Bianca made comparisons between our name-tags (the way in which we were wearing them), they were all different. Oliver wearing his board member badge, Bianca with a thick key-ring lanyard, Pascal with it pinned to his shirt, and myself with an odd lanyard from this year's UA IT Summit. So, all in all, it is a great way to start the camp.
But then, of course, inevitably, a lull comes. An elongated pause, what some may call an awkward moment. Not to worry though! I have come prepared. I quickly sift through my bag to find my conversation starter pack. It is a box filled with questions meant to spark a conversation. I get a couple laughs, but that's okay, they're not malicious or hurtful. The question is selected at random, it reads "If you could create a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign for any company, which company would you choose?"
Unfortunately, this did not strike up a conversation. It did get us laughing and out of the awkward pause though. So, I think it was successful at its job.
That was the first hour of JDW this year, incredibly excited for the next couple of days. Goal: be a friend to everyone.