On-Cycle Timeline (AN1s)?

AN1 - waiting to be fully prepped before connecting with headhunters, whether or not it's the optimal strategy. Know that no one knows for certain, but vaguely pinning December/January as when on-cycle kicks off (noting that Apollo has publicly announced their desire to kick off later than that). Have some peers doing coffee chats / networking events with firms already.   

If people don't mind sharing, just wanted to get a pulse for where everything seems to sit in terms of timeline? Is skipping / missing these coffee chats a major disadvantage?