It is a good idea to schedule some private meetings when you travel to conferences.  In this online industry we gain many long distance relationships and conferences makes it easy for everybody to get together.

I like to make plans about a month before a conference with my friends who I know are attending and people that I would like to be more friendly with.  You would be surprised how much more information will be shared after you get to know someone a bit better.

If you have never met anyone in this industry face-to-face before, this is also a good way for newbies to pre-break the ice.  Drop an email, fill out a contact form or send a message via sticky mail and let someone know that you really enjoyed their writings and would like to buy them a drink at the conference.  No one turns down a free drink.  Well almost no one, Matt Cutts still prefers to pay the $2.50 for his sprite.