Academia is full of examples where who you know matters a lot. One of my goals these days is to get in contact with people who might be useful for me in the future (job, collaborations, advice etc. etc.). Mind you that I am fairly well connected, have multiple collaborators, and am generally good at inter-personal dealings. I also arrange a annual mid-sized meeting and have been on a undisclosed-post for some time now which gives me good exposure to many people and allows me to interact with them.
But I want more !
One way that I have been thinking about is to contact the local scientists in my geographical-area and start talking to them. But I am not sure how to do that. What do I say? Do I ask them to collaborate with me? Do I say nothing and just chat with them on random scientific topics?
I think part of the problem is my research area. I do not fit any of the traditional departments, and between two/three department my research lies are not always so welcoming.
I am thinking about cold-cantacting them and seeing what happens. I am not sure how to do that either. Email ofcourse. but what do I say.
Blogosphere might have some brilliant thoughts?
