One thing that has worked well for me: ask the gatekeeper (usually the decision maker's AA) for the decision maker's email address. Tell her (or him) who you a

One thing that has worked well for me: ask the gatekeeper (usually the decision maker's AA) for the decision maker's email address. Tell her (or him) who you are, why you want the email, and what you plan to email. Make it clear that you do not want to get caught in a spam filter and politely ask that the decision maker be made aware that an email is coming. You haven't wasted anyone's time and you've made it easy for them to communicate with you. I almost always get some kind of reply. The key is to be yourself, be sincere, lay out all the facts, and make it quick and easy for the other people. Another thing that has always worked very well is a hand written snail mailed note. But only after you've already met. Otherwise, it's just junk mail.