I’d guess that less that half my conversations at EA social events are actually related to EA.
(EA Global is an exception to this, since I think of it as a work event and it’s mostly focused meetings.)
The texture of an event will vary, but I think most people at most events will be open to talk about other things. Common topics I’ve encountered:
Books, movies, TV, webfiction, etc.
Personal stories and anecdotes
Icebreaker questions (sometimes philosophical, but they don’t have to be)
“Would you rather fight X or Y? What’s your D&D alignment? What’s the best cheap thing you bought recently?”
Current events
The rules and strategy of whatever board game you happen to be playing (if it’s game night)
Realistically, the vast majority of EA-focused conversations at parties have ~0 impact, because people chitchatting while drinking aren’t likely to make progress on important issues. I hope that people won’t resent you for wanting to talk about mundane stuff sometimes.
*****
That said, if your local group tends to have very EA-focused events, it’s realistically up to you to either:
Change the tone (host a game night or karaoke or something else that doesn’t naturally lead to focused conversation), or
Find a virtual space/community where people are interested in other things (maybe the EA Corner Discord channel? I’m not super connected to digital EA spaces outside the Forum)
I’d guess that less that half my conversations at EA social events are actually related to EA.
(EA Global is an exception to this, since I think of it as a work event and it’s mostly focused meetings.)
The texture of an event will vary, but I think most people at most events will be open to talk about other things. Common topics I’ve encountered:
Books, movies, TV, webfiction, etc.
Personal stories and anecdotes
Icebreaker questions (sometimes philosophical, but they don’t have to be)
“Would you rather fight X or Y? What’s your D&D alignment? What’s the best cheap thing you bought recently?”
Current events
The rules and strategy of whatever board game you happen to be playing (if it’s game night)
Realistically, the vast majority of EA-focused conversations at parties have ~0 impact, because people chitchatting while drinking aren’t likely to make progress on important issues. I hope that people won’t resent you for wanting to talk about mundane stuff sometimes.
*****
That said, if your local group tends to have very EA-focused events, it’s realistically up to you to either:
Change the tone (host a game night or karaoke or something else that doesn’t naturally lead to focused conversation), or
Find a virtual space/community where people are interested in other things (maybe the EA Corner Discord channel? I’m not super connected to digital EA spaces outside the Forum)