Krysten Blackstone is a Lecturer in International and Military History at the University of Salford, where she has been since 2022. She is a social and military historian of Early America and her current work examines the morale of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.  As a PhD student she worked on and was chair of the blog Pubs and Publications: The PhD Experience where she wrote a number of blog posts on similar topics. She also works on the book reviews team for the Journal of American Studies.   In this episode Krysten shares her strategies for networking at academic conferences.   We talk about feelings of anxiety and how you can ‘break the ice’ when meeting new people.   We also discuss how to manage those awkward coffee breaks!   Throughout our chat Krysten emphasizes the importance of approaching networking with a spirit of curiosity and generosity and how this can lead to meaningful connections and successful relationships.   You can contact Krysten here: [email protected]  @KEBlackstone on twitter krystenblackstone.com      You can access the transcript for this episode here: thephdliferaft.com If you would like to receive a useful weekly email from the PhD Life Raft you can sign up here for ‘Notes from the Life Raft’: https://mailchi.mp/f2dce91955c6/notes-from-the-life-raft