You know that contact you keep meaning to grab a coffee with? The one whose message sits under three newer ones, whose last email you answered with “let’s catch up soon”? Chances are they’ll be at State of Social.

Both days run on the same quiet truth: the best conversations happen when nobody is performing. Nobody is mid-session, nobody is rushing to a meeting, and everyone in the coffee line has a reason to stand still for three minutes. That is a better opening than any LinkedIn message.

Why the coffee line works

Cold outreach asks someone to find time. A coffee line asks for nothing. You are both already there, both already waiting, and both holding the same problem: a few minutes with nothing to do.

It also lowers the stakes. Walking up to a stranger in the middle of a crowd feels like an interruption. Turning to the person next to you and saying “have you tried this one?” feels like small talk, and small talk is how every useful conversation starts.

Hunt And Brew pours the coffee, barista made and on tap. So the queue is a reason to be there, not an excuse to scroll your phone.

How to use it

Keep it simple. Three steps, one name.

1. Bring a name. Pick the one person you have been putting off. Not ten people. One. Write it on your hand if you need to.
2. Find them in the queue. If they are not there, ask who is. Someone will know where they are.
3. Have the chat you have been putting off. Start with what you are working on right now, not your job title. Ask what they are trying to fix this quarter.

Then do it again. And again. By the end of day one, the person you kept postponing is no longer a task on your list. They are a coffee date in your calendar.

What to say when you get there

You do not need a pitch. You need one honest line:

• “I have been meaning to say hello for ages.”
• “I saw your work on the last campaign and wanted to ask how you tested it.”
• “What is the one thing you want to take back to your team from this?”

None of those sell anything. All of them get a real answer.

Make the second coffee easier

The best part of a conference coffee is that it makes the next one easy. You have already met. You already have something to follow up on. So before you leave the queue, name a time: “Coffee next week? I will message you.” Then send the message that afternoon, while you both remember the conversation.

That is the whole point. State of Social is two days, 24 & 25 August, at Optus Stadium in Perth, and the sessions are only half of what you take home. The other half is the people you finally stopped postponing.

So bring a name. The coffee is on tap.

If networking is not your favourite part of a conference, start with Small talk, sorted.