Whatever the case, if you email them with an shallow request of "looks like you're doing cool things let's get coffee", your request will probably be ignored. Everyone is busy, there's no time for random coffee with a stranger.
But if you can ask a very specific question regarding their work, you'll pique their interest. Offer to teach them something in return, now you're on the path to a mutually beneficial professional relationship.
Don't send out the same message to different people. Do the hard work; research each person's background, send an email specific to their likes/interests. Be strategic when making a request from someone and if you can offer something in return, even better.
I'm really good at writing these types of emails. Drop me an email at jim@techleads.io if there's something you want me to review.
Good luck!
And tactically: figure out how you can make meeting you of value to the other person, what you want to accomplish (result) and do in that meeting. Basically: do your homework.
2) If you see someone who is doing something amazing, go over to them, tell then how great you think it is, ask them how they do it.
3) If there is something you want to understand but don't, figure out who do and ask them.
4) Get out amongst people.
5) Build, create, write, launch something put it out there for the world to see.
In other words.
Just be genuinely interested in the people you interact with and you will be building the best possible network without feeling you are being insincere. It doesn't matter if it's in person, by mail, via a tweet.
I usually spend at least one happy hour a week after work + one lunch a week with those types and then one or two lunches a week with current co workers and people closer to me that I consider super talent that I'd like to always stay in touch with.
I just drop random messages to folks saying "Hey it's been about year since we last chatted and it'd be awesome to learn about what you're working on and catch up in general. Do you have anytime for a lunch or pint after work in the next week or two?"
If you do stuff like that you'll get invited to other social gatherings and eventually you'll start meeting their friends and people they consider talented.
What I described above is actually work (I enjoy it though) and requires time and effort.
It occurs to me that this is a good way to increase the number of "hops" in your network.
/me ducks
I did one speaking engagement talking about my career and what I do and that did more for my network than everything else I've ever done...combined.
Going outside, in my opinion, is the only way to network. Following up on Linkedin etc etc is only the aftermath.
Believe it or not, emailing an author about their blog post is much better than randomly talking to someone who shares your interests at a conference. The former being more targeted and personal.
[If your conference is savvy enough to have an attendee profile page, definitely take the time to browse though them.]
Then, you can engage with those people over Twitter, via email etc. If you end up building a friendship, then before the conference has even begun, you might arrange meeting up in the hallway between keynote presentations - finally meet that person you've been talking to on Twitter!
Another thing that has worked for me is to always take the extracurricular conference activity. I've always gone skydiving or bungee jumping when the conference offered it, and that's been how I've made some of my awesome new friends. I'm not a thrill junkie or anything, but there's something about sharing an experience like that with people, you end up opening up to people as you share your collective fear / vulnerability & excitement.
Make an authentic connection. Find out what is most important to someone else. See if you can help them in some way, shape, or form. Be a value creator. Finally, stay in touch.
On this subject, Larry Benet is brilliant > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-39qOKErh10
Keep connections warm and be helpful.
For small-scale:
* Industry talks and conferences -- it's very common for tech companies to give talks or even conferences. An information security / pentesting consultant company held an event where some of their employees presented research that they were taking to a larger conference. From their side, it was for marketing reasons, but this was kept out of their presentations completely (which focused entirely on their work). From my side, I got to spend a fun few hours being wined and dined (for free) and got to chat to some interesting people in the coffee breaks about their work. We still keep in touch. Pros: smaller groups of people who probably share interests with you (you chose the same event). Cons: It's a bit harder to find out about events like these, but definitely possible if you keep your eyes and mind open.
* Reach out to people who used to be in your network -- university professors, old colleagues, etc. They have surprisingly good memories, and probably won't be at all unhappy to get a quick update from you. They might even mention some opportunities ;)
* Make stuff -- even if it's small, such as a blog post or a useful script, it's probably enough to get a few people to notice you, and perhaps one or two to follow you on Twitter or email you and ask you for help with debugging
For large-scale:
* Give people free stuff in return for an email address. Spam them (even if it's not a lot of emails, it's super targeted and you'll get results). Follow people on Twitter, and DM them with offers with free stuff (video, white paper, blog post). Some will react badly (like most of the HN crowd, including me) and report you as spam, block you, unfollow you. A majority of people will lap it up and your 'network' will grow exponentially. [Note: I haven't really tried this myself, but as an experiment I created a Twitter account and started tweeting cheap motivational bullshit. I gained followers pretty quickly and saw how the marketers with hundreds of thousands of readers operated as they were amongst the first to notice my bullsh.t account. Unfortunately what they were doing was working].
In either case, remember that there are a lot of people looking to grow their networks because having a large network is beneficial, so they look for other people who can provide value and network with them. Instead of being one of these people, and focusing on what your network can do for you, rather focus on the value you can provide to others, and then give it to them. The network will flock to you.
one of my all-time favorite resource in this regard is this book: "Work The Pond". it totally alligns with my own philosophy + values.