Go around with a glass of that and no one will even know you are avoiding alcohol. That helps to avoid questions that you don't want to get into.
Good luck and congrats on your 4 years!

No one ever questions what your drinking.

Will you be able to talk to a sober friend as you leave the party?

So I'm expecting them to be a bunch of hammerheads. That's why I'm only going to stay about an hour. Noting more boring that talking to a drunk!

Social skills are like any other skill set.
Learnable and doable.

Even if it is not your favorite thing.

You have the ability to do this. I base this on your thoughtful, sophisticated movie reviews.

You also have the motivation, you obviously love writing movie reviews and put a lot of time and effort
into doing a good job.

Your local newspaper is giving you a public forum to do something you love to do.

It is only fair that they get to meet you, shake your hand in greeting, and put a face to your name.

You have a creative process kind of career and work for yourself. You will have to do a bit of self promotion.

You will get better at the meet and greet the more you do it.

Smile, introduce yourself. Ask people about their jobs, show an interest.
Thank the person who gave you the opportunity to publish your work.
Wish people a happy holiday.

An hour sounds about right.

Good luck, I am certain you can do this.

And you're right, I absolutely love writing reviews. It's funny, I do more family-friendly movies for the paper--I live in a pretty conservative community. My online reviews are for movies that are a lot edgier.

You write well and you love movies.
And have a talent for critiquing and reviewing movies.

It is an artistic endeavor in that you are creating a product.
Based upon your creativity, intuition, knowledge, experience.

Most artists have various product lines, especially in the beginning.
Trying to get an audience, trying to practice their craft.

Yes of course, you will have different approaches based upon specific audience and venue.
Children, family films for a conservative community's local paper.
Online more edgy.

You also get a chance to see what people like or what doesn't work out.

I had a hard time with that also, alcohol is not called the"social lubricant" for nothing...Being mostly and introvert that was it for me... Have a good time and hopefully not too stressful... Congrats on your 4 years of sobriety

I saw far too many career ending events, some of which seemed perfectly fine at the time - except that a narcissistic overlord was involved.

So I pretty much just clutch a soft drink, make pleasantries, and watch the fun. Socializing is still easier because people who are drinking tend to be more approachable and gabby.

I haven't found it to be a negative even a little bit. And given some of the truly huge assclowns I've worked for, it has likely kept me employed.

Of course I'm not addicted to alcohol, so I'm not triggered or tempted by the availability. My guess is that is the bigger issue for some.

Confident in you!

Post a link to your reviews? They sound good!!

Unlike some reviewers, I only post movies I enjoyed and recommend!

Now I just need to figure out how to follow / stay up with your reviews as you post them?

I like that it's not just new releases! 🙂

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can click on Older Posts. I've got tons of reviews there! Happy hunting!

I find when I do hard things I think past the moment of concern and decide what I will do after the event. It’s like being on a boat in a storm and planning in my mind what I will do when we get safely to dock. You got this. Enjoy the moment!😊

Wasn't tempted to drink at all. Even with an open bar.