By John Rampton
You’re talking with someone at a conference when it happens: You realize the conversation’s over. You’re both still contributing to the dialogue, but you’re just filling time with mindless banter.At this point, you have a couple of choices. You could stay and allow the other person to monopolize your time, but that would be self-defeating, because you won’t be able to network with anyone else. You’re there to expand your connections so you can get bigger-network benefits like having access to thought leaders and referral sources. You could also wrap up the conversation quickly. That’s easier said than done, though: After all, you don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings or sound foolish in the process.
