Also, I've found that many of the best connections occur at the events/parties/meetups surrounding the days of a conference. I live in Portland and OSCON is pretty expensive, but you can get a free Expo pass, wander around and get some free beer, and accomplish quite a bit without registering. Same with SXSW interactive.
Very true. It was hard to get plugged into these events on my first trip at this conference. That's why I took a few people out to eat afterwords. It was easier to organize a 1 on 1 with less notice.
