+before the event, look at the speaker list, attendee list, or sponsor list. identify 3-5 people you specifically want to meet. research their work so you can start a real conversation, not just "so what do you do?" set a micro-goal: 3 quality conversations beats 20 business card swaps. once you meet your targets, [[get-contacts-immediately|lock in the contact on the spot]]. plan [[how-you-introduce-yourself|your intro]] too. having a plan doesn't mean having an agenda — it's the opposite of [[networking-as-extraction]]. same [[figure-out-what-you-want-before-partners|"know what you want"]] energy, applied to events.