For me, 'networking' only really helps me when I've worked with the people. Nobody you just met at a cocktail hour with name cards is going to call you up if th

For me, 'networking' only really helps me when I've worked with the people. Nobody you just met at a cocktail hour with name cards is going to call you up if they have a job opening. If you worked with someone for a few years, they will remember you when a job opens up and call you. Or at least help you when you call them. Ideally you will have a job/internship with these people, but it works pretty well in a partnership or customer/client relationship. It even works within an open source project (though that is fairly CS specific).