Attend events, or stay in and work hard?

A small preface: I evangelize technology for Twilio, so going to events is part of my day-to-day job... there might be some biases here.

When you're starting out on a startup, or life in a new city as a tech person, events can be amazingly powerful. It's my job to know which events are awesome, and which ones are a waste of time -- IN CONTEXT. The key is that people go to events for many different reasons: socially, professionally, personally, intellectually. The number of events offered in cities like San Francisco, New York, and even Seattle where I hail from originally are vast.

Events matter because they let you practice selling - something you'll need to do sooner or later. They're a very simple kind of customer development tool, because you have to explain to people what you're doing and if you either a) can't or b) aren't understood then that's a valuable data point. It can mean a lot of things, but the point is that now you have that data to analyze.

Events, when you really engage in them (even in short 45 minute bursts before you bail) can yield a lot of crap as well as a lot of weak connections which might turn into something. The "weak connections" might not have immediate or obvious benefit, but as you continue building you might be surprised. The key is to filter fast, stay connected, and make it clear what you want from the people you meet. What is your ask? What is your give?

If you don't offer something, and need something in return, you shouldn't be there. It's a social marketplace.

On the flipside, there are certainly people who go to EVERY event and add zero value. They offer nothing, they ask for things but there's no point in trading with them. Every event has these people, the day I figure out what motivates them will be a serious breakthrough for me. I just accept them as part of the scene and move on.

You definitely have to strike a balance. If you spend all your time networking, you won't get anything done... but networking (or just going out to "detune" a little bit from time to time) has it's own value. I think each individual has to find that balance for him/her self though.

I organize the RTP Hackers & Founders group, and I think we're going to start to gravitate to about once per month for "formal" meetings. I figure if I go to that meetup, plus one or two random techie meetups through the month (Hadoop User's Group, Lucene/Solr User's Group, Java User's Group, Linux User's Group, whatever), and spend most of the rest of the "outside of the $DAYJOB" time working, I'll be OK. That's subjective and apt to change, but right now it feels about right.