All,
Attending a student PE conference in the coming months and was wondering from a professional's point of view what should students be doing to make the most out of these? Usually, at student conferences I see professionals swarmed by sweaty students thirsty for attention, who only brag about themselves, effectively barring the chance for the professional to say anything useful to the crowd. First of all I am not the person to gloat as a student to someone who clearly is 20x more qualified than myself, and not use the chance to learn itself. Second I never see this strategy have success, but I don't want to stand around doing nothing. What's a good strategy to employ so that I'm not only learning as much as possible from speakers/professionals but also able to establish connections that can provide guidance to set me up for future success.
Additionally, this past summer at my work, my boss would frequently attend PE/VC/Tech conferences and when I asked why, he told me it was the greatest opportunity to network and connect. Apparently, half of the live deals at the time were sourced back to such a conference. Would also love to hear about your guys' thoughts on professional events and what a new professional going in should do at such conferences to make the most of the money spent and to potentially set up future opportunities.
Might be a noob question, but would love insight so I can hit the ground running at such events.
