Waiting in Line: Aaron Altabet, Founder, Chumstock

When you arrive at Chumstock, Aaron Altabet hands you a sardine tin. On it is your name, and inside are business cards shaped like fish. They’re simple: your name, personal phone number and email address. There are 14 cards: you get a stack of salmon and one orca. It’s based on how many friendships Aaron thinks you can build during the four-day weekend. You have to choose. The salmon can be traded but you have to save the orca for the one person you’d be sorry to lose touch with.

Chumstock is Aaron’s answer to a climate conference: four days, three nights at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs. At the conference are 120 startup founders, funders, operators, and researchers. It’s an unconference, so there’s just one 10-minute speech on opening night.

There’s something surprising though: Aaron surveyed everyone after Chumstock and found that the number one place people met was in line. All Aaron’s careful planning came down to people waiting for food or for the ferry, or sometimes for the trivia to start. That and a culture where it’s ok to go up to someone and say hi.

Aaron also gets deep into his social math: why six is the largest table you can have to maintain a conversation and why you owe your friends a note at least once a year. Hosts Aaron and Charlotte wonder how to build lines into their conference!

00:00 Introduction

02:29 Two Aarons, One Podcast

04:59 Becoming a Connector

06:35 The Origin of Chum Stock

09:28 Shelf-Stable Friendships

13:21 Social Media vs. Real Connection

15:54 What Chum Stock Actually Is

19:22 The Sardine Tin Business Cards