April 22, 2026•1 min read•from Machine Learning

Struggling to form a group at ICLR. How do you actually break into conversations?[D]

Our take

Navigating networking at conferences like ICLR can feel daunting, especially when groups seem to form effortlessly around you. As a PhD student eager to connect with industry professionals, it’s essential to find practical strategies to break into these conversations. Instead of relying on generic advice, consider specific tactics to initiate dialogue and join groups, even when starting from a place of low social momentum. Discovering effective ways to engage can transform your experience and open doors to valuable connections.

I’m at ICLR and I’m realizing a different problem than the usual “how to network.”

I see groups forming naturally, people chatting, moving together even at airport . I end up standing nearby but can’t get myself to even say a simple hi. It feels like everyone already belongs somewhere and I would be interrupting.

For context, I’m a PhD student interested in industry roles. I do have a list of posters and people I want to talk to, but the actual moment of approaching them or joining a group is where I get stuck.

I’m not looking for generic advice like “just be confident.” I want concrete, simple tactics that actually work in a conference setting, especially when you are starting from zero social momentum.

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How exactly one goes about networking in conferences? [D]So ICLR is coming and apparently the biggest value one can get from these conferences is to network. Let's take my example: I'm a PhD student looking for industry internships. Say I have located about 15-20 posters regarding topics adjacent or directly related to my area of research, some of which are by authors from industry labs. I go to the poster, ask the authors about their paper, discuss a bit, perhaps ask some insightful questions and mention that I work in similar things, and then after the conference I email them asking if they have internships? Is this how I should be extracting the networking value of it? Also, how overwhelmed are authors with these kind of requests? Seems like cold emailing vs this doesn't make that much of a difference, besides the fact that they might remember me from the conversation we had during 15 minutes during their poster session. submitted by /u/howtorewriteaname [link] [comments]

Struggling to form a group at ICLR. How do you actually break into conversations?[D]

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