Networking. I live in SF and go to tech events/parties, but I rarely feel like I'm getting the most out of them. Large events and events not focused on minglin

Networking. I live in SF and go to tech events/parties, but I rarely feel like I'm getting the most out of them. Large events and events not focused on mingling (presentations, conferences) are tough for me to crack. I often don't meet anyone at those events. 'Getting the most out of them' being meeting interesting folks with whom I can work on side projects with or generally clicking professionally. So far my solution is putting in solid effort chatting people up at at least one small, focused event a week and attempting to chat folks up at a larger one once a month. I'm finding having a current side project is helping the conversations along.