Craig,

>Introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you in the sessions, meals, standing in lines, etc.

Great advice. The first DEVCON I attended several years ago felt kinda awkward, because I didn't know anyone, and was too intimidated to talk to anyone whose name I recognized.

After the first day of standing nerdilly around, I finally began to recognize people I had seen in some of the sessions, and relaxed a bit. By the end of the conference I felt a bit more comfortable.

Now, I just start talking to whoever will listen, and come away with great friendships. (And, I met one of my current clients over lunch at NOLA -- so there can be other benefits, too.)