Picked the smaller meetup over the big conference, zero regrets

Last month I had to choose between a $600 ticket to a big startup conference in Chicago or a free local founder meetup at a coffee shop in my neighborhood. I went with the meetup because I wanted actual conversations instead of name tags and elevator pitches, and within 20 minutes I found two people who do packaging for small food brands, which is exactly what my side project needs. Has anyone else skipped the flashy event for the tiny one and ended up with better contacts?

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casey8432mo ago

Same thing happened to me a few years back, I ditched a big industry mixer for a tiny book club thing and ended up talking to a guy who ran a local print shop. That one conversation saved me months of hunting for a supplier, and honestly the big events always feel like everyone's just trying to sell you something. Small groups force real talk, and that's where the good stuff shows up.

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shane7512mo ago

Took a wrong turn once and stumbled into a chess club meeting, ended up finding my best vendor there.

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