The Challenge of Open House

Since I work at a college, participation in several events during the year with large crowds of people is non-optional.  The positive side of this "mandatory mixing" is that it has a(n awesome) specific drive and purpose.  Remember, I have a greater understanding of groups with a purpose.  An open house is not a forum where I'll be forced to endure a lot of small talk.  Rather, it is an environment where I give practical advice in short bursts of directed conversation.  Granted, it is usually the same advice in a repetitive loop to over a hundred open house participants at a stretch...but it is for their benefit and the repetition makes it easy to remember what to say.

That being said, there comes a point during the experience when my ability to deal with the social situation is stretched to its very limits.  It isn't a fluke that I live out in the country, in an incredibly rural setting with an extremely small population.  I've always been more of a coffeehouse person than a house-party person--fewer people at a time and a quieter (more personal) experience.

In my first post, I talked about tips for surviving social events.  Most of these do not apply in an open house setting.  For example, it would be inappropriate to bring knitting to this professional event.  But I still bring a tiny survival kit to open houses and similar events:

1. Chewing Gum (It may sound strange, but as an introvert, it becomes difficult to even think clearly in large crowds with a ton of ambient noise.  Chewing gum allows me to think a little more clearly while I navigate and interact with the group in question.)
2. Headache Medicine (I am prone to headaches, and specifically, migraines.  Better to be prepared than not, especially when I'm already in a state of Introvert high-tension due to a crowd.)
3. A Small Notebook (This one is thanks to my wonderful husband.  He likes to keep a mini notebook on hand just in case it is needed.  In my case, in a large crowd it is a great idea to be prepared for requests for follow up that I might not otherwise remember due to the aforementioned state of high-tension.)
4. A Plan to Decompress After the Event (For tomorrow's event, I've got Introvert Time before and after, as well as a nice quiet plan with a good friend later in the evening.)

With a little planning and self-care, crowded events need not run us Introverts into the ground.  Rather, these events can be opportunities to get outside of that comfort zone and help others while testing out our coping mechanisms in a perfectly crowded setting.