PASS, the Professional Association of SQL Server, is currently holding a contest, looking for people to blog or email them about the best thing they learned at a PASS Summit they've attended.
Networking: it's not just for sleezy marketing types. Hmmm. Perhaps.... Networking: it's not just for people looking for a new job. Let's just say that before attending PASS I had some preconceptions about what 'networking' was based on the ugliest parts of it that I'd seen. I don't wish to sound like I'm diminishing the value of the sessions that I attended, because I learned a ton that I could take back to my job, but I think the biggest value for my company from PASS was that the network of SQL Server professionals I met at the conference pays off every day.
Combined with technologies like email, RSS feeds, and Twitter, I have instant access to hundreds of smart SQL Server professionals who can answer a question I have. Or, they may be talking about some topic I don't know I need to know about yet, and I find myself curiously prepared when the crisis comes. And those professionals are of every type, from the luminaries of SQL Server to the folks just like me, solving the same problems I’m facing.
There’s nothing stopping you from connecting to those people outside of a conference via the internet, but, if I may be so bold, your primate DNA means your connection to that community is going to be ever so much stronger if you've had face time instead of just connecting through some glowing rectangle. I hope I can help them as much as they help me daily.