When people think about ELT conferences, they tend to picture the plenaries, presentations, workshops, and exhibitions. After all, these are the things which we see advertised in the online flyers and listed in the pages of programmes. And in terms of professional development these aspects of conferencing-going are a key part. However, I’d argue that most is often gained from the informal conversation you have with the person sitting next to you before a talk begins, the sharing of ideas over a coffee afterwards, and the chance meeting with someone who has similar interests. It’s called networking and although conference…