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- When the big shot is explaining what his kids did last week, ask if he knows a
generalization of some exotic theorem.
- Bring a laptop and a thick notebook, preferably 3/4 full of very
technical looking material.
- Do not squander your visual attention in keeping eye contact with the
person with whom you are conversing; there may be a bigger shot coming by
soon.
- Do not presume that any conversations at a conference are private; the
people would not have come to the conference if they did not want to talk
to you - feel free to interrupt any conversation.
- Bring a copy of your
rejected paper and pass it round for comments.
- When in doubt, talk about the weather especially if there are Britons
at the table.
- Exploit your big shot status to gain a competitive advantage in the
ruthless competition for the attention of the few female researchers who
are at the conference.
- A good opening line is "what paper are presenting" or "how was your
flight?" [make sure the big shot flew and did not drive].
- Engage in gossip about other researchers in your field including how
bad other papers at the conference are. Gently sound out the other
person's views before slagging off too severely.
- Have a life, in order that you have topics of conversation to engage in
other than technical ones.
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