So I work at a high tech type company (no one really cares about details, right?) and from management down nearly all work related conversations start with So,...
So, the OP did start the thread with so, just not the post (read the title, failbots)
So anyway, back to the story, it's easy to tell if someone wants to talk about their brackets (whatever the hell that's all about) or a defect in the latest firmware drop. If they, halfway through a conversation, suddenly start a sentence with "So... " that means they're about to get serious. If they start the conversation with "So, Bob..." that means it's all about work (unless they are talking to Gary or Troy or someone, then it means they are very confused since I don't look anything like those guys)
So. it's useful for that. but in a meeting with 10 different people prefacing every statement with "So..." it get's very annoying.
Then there's the guy from India that ends nearly every sentence with the "Right?"
So, he says things like (and this is a statement not a question) - "Hello Bob, the filer is faulting on takeover because the OS is mismatched. Right? So update the code on the downrev filer, right? and reboot both they will sync together right?"