People who find themselves in a room full of strangers sometimes don't want to introduce themselves. But most Wikimedia events are supposed to be interactive and collaborative, which doesn't work as well if people don't want to talk to each other.
Have an icebreaker game at the beginning of your event. A good icebreaker can help people relax and start having fun, while they get to know each other.
Wikimedia Italy organized an icebreaker at their 2013 Wikimedia conference where attendees were divided in groups of 4-5 people each and they had to find a way to throw an egg out of a window and make sure it didn't break; building some kind of "device" to protect the egg using only straws and tape (provided by the facilitators).[1]
Once people know some editing, you can ask participants to leave a message on the talk page of the person to their left.
It makes people to feel safe and relaxed which makes it convenient to create new connection and business partners Solidbiggy (talk) 20:44, 13 July 2021 (UTC)Reply[reply]