For monthly things, it does have some effect. I participated in some of them before due to the visibility. People from your class may know you but others, not

For monthly things, it does have some effect. I participated in some of them before due to the visibility. People from your class may know you but others, not so much. In the absence of time and other signals, management would often pick someone who is highlighted to represent something. A lot of big people at those events generally don't mind giving contact information to young kids asking for help as much. From there, you can effectively build a nice list of people that you can leverage in future for your resume or career. It's like free consultation you otherwise would need to buy later.