Influencer marketing conferences sell themselves on their agendas: keynote speakers, panel lineups, breakout sessions. For talent managers, that's rarely the reason to book the flight. The real value is the networking. Getting it right starts before you land.

I look up every event on LinkedIn ahead of time to see who's attending. I try to connect with them or comment on their posts about the conference. That way I know exactly who to seek out once I'm in the room.

Here are three worth that kind of prep between now and the end of the year.

1. Creator Economy Live East

First up, and soonest on the calendar, is Creator Economy Live East . It runs July 29 at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

The speaker list is full of brand-side names: Sam Friedman of the NFL, Joel Porter of Weight Watchers, Nicole Marcus of DICK'S Sporting Goods, Morgan Gaines of The Walt Disney Company, Kristen Rodriguez of PayPal. In practice, most of them are hard to catch outside their own speaking slot.

Agencies are the better bet. They're there to build relationships, not fulfill a speaking obligation. That makes them worth more of a talent manager's time on the floor.

Last year I met influencer marketing executives from Delta and Autumn Communications. Those are the kind of connections that only happen when people are actually available to talk.

One change this year works against that. Last year's single pass tier already included lunch and snacks for everyone. This year splits that off into a separate VIP tier with its own private lounge. That pulls exactly the people worth talking to off the floor and into a room of their own.

Next up is VidSummit , Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, just outside Dallas.

I haven't been myself, but for talent managers the appeal is obvious. It's a room where you can meet brands and potential clients at the same time.

Management companies bring their existing talent. Last year, Fixated attended with several team members and a handful of clients. Brands were there too. Surfshark was among them last year.

One first-time attendee never got into the official VIP events, probably a missed RSVP window. He spent the weekend on meetups and karaoke instead, and still called it the best conference he'd been to.

Last on the calendar, but arguably the sharpest opportunity, is CreatorIQ Connect . It’s a single day, Oct. 13, at the Ebell of Los Angeles, with over 1,000 attendees, more than 30 speakers, and YouTube as presenting partner.

One day means less time to work the room than the other two. That makes it even more important to know who you want to meet before you arrive.

The venue helps. The Ebell is built around a large open courtyard alongside its stages. The event also schedules real networking time instead of leaving it to chance between sessions.

Last year I met executives from Monster Energy, Dentsu, and Norwegian Cruise Line there. That's the kind of access that would otherwise take months of cold outreach.

All three are worth the flight for the networking alone. Do the homework first. Look up the attendee list on LinkedIn before you go, and walk in already knowing who you’re looking for.