security meetup:

The Podium

Networking 101

Amalia Berglöf

11/4/20252 min read

I believe a lot of people get networking wrong. And no, I’m not talking about infrastructure or security here, haha - I’m talking about the networking you do at events, in communities, and online.

A recent comment at one of my LinkedIn posts, sharing how going to events can benefit your career, cemented this pretty well: ”But but what about introvert nerds like me? :P”

I believe networking is for you too.

Networking isn’t about shaking as many hands as possible, I believe it’s about finding the right people to talk to. So if you’re somebody that’s super nerdy about a topic, and your main reason of going to an event is too nerd out about it, it’s an absolute fantastic opportunity to dig deep into it with others, through questions like; ”How do you handle these processes within your team?”/”Have you seen any incidents like these before in your environments?”/”Are there anyone else that works with these questions at your company that you think I could meet for a fika?”

And for those of you that want to seem like a pro at the next event you go to:

You can let others scan your LinkedIn QR code (and you others’!) by tapping the ”search” bar on LinkedIn and then the QR symbol to the right
Don’t forget to leave a connection request with a note. On mobile, click the three dots, and then choose ”Personalize invite”. Write something like ”Great to meet you at Security Meetup!”.
… And use that as your future relationship CRM by searching for ”security meetup” in your DMs. Invite that cool person out for a separate fika!

And remember: Sometimes showing up is good enough. You don’t have to give it your all, all the time. Be kind to yourself, as well as to others that you meet. It’s okay to be at an event and have a not-so-good day!

Amalia Berglöf

2025-10-13