Would you like to meet someone who could help your career or personal life? You have a great opportunity to meet people whenever you attend a workshop, a performance, whatever. Here’s how to make the most of it.

Show up 15 to 30 minutes before the event starts and hang out where other early birds are congregating. Then, use your intuition to pick out two or three people you sense you’d like to meet.

Approach with Caution

If your target person is alone, slowly approach, trying to establish eye contact. When you’re a couple of feet away, just say, "Hi, I’m (insert your name)." If the person doesn’t start a conversation, say something very brief. For example, at an accountant’s convention, say something like "I’m a forensic accountant." Don’t tell your woes early on, if at all. If the conversation stalls, ask something like, "Do you know much about the workshop leader?" Look for the right moment to ask what you want; for example, "I’ve just set up a Sarbanes-Oxley reporting system for the Ace Widget Company and am looking for a new project. Any ideas? Note: in that example, the person didn’t explicitly ask for a job. That’s too pushy.

If you sense you don’t want to spend the rest of the event with that person, stick your hand out and say something like, "It was good talking with you." If you liked the person but want to meet others, say something like, "I enjoyed talking with you. May I have your card?" Offer yours.

Be Patient

If your target person is conversing with someone else, stand a few feet away, but in his line of sight. Every five or ten seconds, try to establish eye contact. You might be lucky and be quickly signaled to join the conversation. If not, listen in. If you have something to add or ask, establish eye contact and look for a sign that it’s OK for you to speak. When it feels right, introduce yourself as above.

If one of your targets is at the refreshment table, head there and start a conversation as above, or perhaps commenting about the refreshments.

The event is about to begin. Now what? If you’re talking with a promising prospect, ask if she’d like to sit with you. If the people you’ve spoken with aren’t promising leads, try to sit next to a prospect you haven’t yet talked to. During the event, there may be opportunities to connect: for example, whispers during the presentation or a chat during a workshop’s group activity.

When the event ends, use the same procedure to meet people as you used before the event. If you’d like to talk with the speaker, be the last person to do so. That way, you may get more time and even the opportunity to walk out with him. Start with something like, "I really liked your talk, especially (insert a specific)." Ask a question you predict he’ll be interested in answering. Often in the course of conversation, the speaker will ask about you. At that point, you might say what you’re looking for ("I’m rather an expert on real-time PCR and looking for an interesting next project. Any advice?")

Don’t Forget to Write

As soon as you get home, write a follow-up note, either handwritten or via email, to any people you want to stay in touch with. Example: "Dear Sandy, you and I met at the China conference. You said you were interested in power plant financing, so I thought you might like to see this article. And thanks for offering to pass my name along to the right person at the power plant company. Best, Pat Pleaser."

  Later, consider contacting the person or persons again. For example, invite him into your Linkedin.com networking group. Or send an appropriate book – inexpensive yet memorable. I use Amazon.com because it is so convenient. The selection is huge and the prices are great. Along with the book, send a reminder about what you are looking for career-wise.

Take the risk of approaching strangers. The worst thing that can happen is that you sound stupid. Even if you do, you’ll survive. More likely you gain something and have fun.