Today I wore a new t-shirt. Normally, no one would notice; but his shirt is different. It may be the geekiest science shirt I own. The front of the chest has the structure of the peptide “KRISTIN” on the front. Not surprisingly, the shirt attracted a lot of interest from colleagues, who confirmed my suspicion that it is, in fact, a very geeky t-shirt. This is, of course, after I explained to them that the peptide spelled out my name. Secretly, I know all the people with J s and B s in their name wish they could spell their name as a peptide. I guess the fact that I instantly understood the shirt, while almost everyone else needed to be walked through it, verifies my suspicion that I am in fact, a science nerd ;) I choose to think that is a good thing.
Tonight, on my way home on the red line, I noticed a couple of guys looking at the shirt and discussing it. Obviously, they were scientists—one was carrying a journal and the other a AAAS bag. Without hesitation I asked, “Are you admiring my T-shirt? Do you understand it?” After thinking about it, they chuckled and admitted it was cool. We struck up a conversation and talked about science for the brief ride. We didn’t exchange information, but if we had been working in complementary fields or had more in common I could see it happening. This is the kind of incident that leads to unexpected collaborations and post doctoral fellowships.
This made me realize that it is possible to network without trying. You can meet people anywhere, anytime, even on the subway. You have to always be ready for it. The last thing on my mind when I put on the shirt this morning was not whether I would randomly meet a couple of red line scientists. Aside from the recent t-shirt incident, I have enjoyed subway conversations in the past when someone noticed that I was reading a research article related to their line of work. Given the high number of scientists that ride the red line, I have to wonder if it isn’t possible to network on the subway on a regular basis. I just may have to keep some cards with my contact info ready, just in case I meet someone I would like to contact in the future.
Disclaimer: Kristin does not condone talking to strangers on the subway, as this can be dangerous or unpleasant
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Coffee Talk
A blog intended to provoke thought and discussion of life science graduate studies and contemplation of late-breaking science news.
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Networking on the Subway
- Date:
- Tuesday, 02 Oct ober 2007 - 03:14 GMT
Last updated: Tuesday, 02 Oct 2007 - 03:14 GMT
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Comments
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Yes, this is one of the reasons I love Cambridge. I’ve spent my 6 years in Boston living and working on the Red line (Cambridge side) and I’ve seen all sorts of interesting people there. I like seeing what they are reading…it’s especially cool to see them reading the publications I work for, which happens occasionally. I also like seeing the bags that have obviously been picked up at one academic conference or another. I wonder if any new connections/collaborations have ever been forged on the red line?
As for networking, encouraging these kinds of chance meetings is the reason why Nature Network exists and why we put on monthly pub nights. You should come to the next event…wear this famous t-shirt!
It is funny that we live in an area positively swamped with scientists. I still twitch in surprise when I see someone reading a paper on the T. Cool shirt!
The density of scientists is one of the best things about Boston, in my opinion. It seems like there is a certain energy here. I can’t explain it.
I am also a fan of the conference bags and free science T shirts given by companies. I somehow think that I know something about the person based on their collection of conference bags, company T-shirts, or journal subscriptions.
I will try to make it to the next pub night. It seems like a lot of fun. I bet there are many interesting people there to meet.
Haha! I’m studying a corepressor protein named Silencing Mediator of Retinoic acid and Thyroid receptors (abbrev. as SMRT). I have a Simpsons t-shirt where in front, Homer says, “Kiss me, I’m SMRT”. It never fails to elicit a few laughs in the hallway…
hiii… i am Bella George. i went through the comments and i am happy to tell that i know about nature publication even though i am not working with publication. i like to read this journal, because it is short and sweet to understand hastly. At present i am working with Palgrave Macmillan publication.
i like this field. Since i have completed my biotechnology i would like to know about new research developments, but unfortunately i am not getting time to go through it.
aaa cgt atc tct acc ata aac ata tcg gct gta gca tct act aac gag cgc gat
OK, i have to ask if this is something signficant spelled out in code?
I got the “kristin” part. maybe i made mistake but the rest is not so obvious to me. i am dying to know!