what's something exciting you're working on?
one of my friends who was visiting the bay area from new york said that they'd noticed a cultural difference where people in the bay area love to ask "what do you do?" when they meet somebody, and to introduce themselves with their day job; whereas people in new york would get to know each other through their hobbies and interests first. you could hang out with somebody for a long time and not know what they do for a living, and it'd be totally normal.
you can try to explain this with reasons like, the bay area is so full of techies that people often have heard of each other's employers and understand each other's fields better than in other areas? other people didn't corroborate this enough to convince me that it's a real regional difference, but it's an interesting difference between some groups or subcultures of people.
mom sent me a video about somebody recommending against asking "what do you do?" when you meet somebody, because not everybody's job is a big part of their identity or self-worth, and if it's not, the conversation is at best uninteresting and at worst super awkward. instead, she suggested using the title question instead