At the end of August I sent you the first Convention Connection video titled Never Eat Alone. I told you how to easily fill up your table so you have a lunch full of possibilities.  Yet there are those who may not have these tips and you may notice someone sitting alone.

I did. I entered the lunch hall early and saw a woman sitting and eating alone. I walked over and said, “You are alone, may I join you?” She was surprised and with a full mouth gestured me to a seat.

We hit it off immediately talking about our kids and non-work topics. So it turns out that woman sitting alone was the phenomenal Hayley Foster, the founder of TEDx! I must admit, I had never heard of her, but I certainly knew of TEDx and was blown away.

You never know who could be sitting next to you, or standing in front of you in line, or eating alone at the lunch table. Strike up a conversation with those around you – you never know who you may meet.

Check out the video that Hayley did with me after that lunch.

You don’t have to be the world’s greatest conversationalist to start talking with someone; I simply walked up to Hayley and said, “You’re sitting alone.” It wasn’t a clever phrase or even a ‘great’ conversation starter, but it opened the door for me to sit down and for us to connect over stories about our kids.

Real connections come from authenticity. Try it out! You never know who you will end up meeting.​​