work the room

She shot me a toothy smile and continued to work the room.

The atmosphere in the convivial dining room was joyful as Zimmerman would work the room, finding ways to genuinely connect with diners.

Varda was a woman in a man’s world and she learned how to work the room, a habit — and burden — that wasn’t necessary for Godard, the onetime enfant terrible, the former bad-boy genius of cinema who faded into a caricature of himself, almost Lear-like: “A poor, infirm, weak and despised old man.”

By the time Mom gets home from work, the room is cleared out and sparkling clean.

Usually at these dinners, people mingle and work the room, but I realized Young was to be by my side for the night.