Brad Berens, chief content officer and editor at large, iMedia Connection and ad:tech
First, accept that you can't do everything -- believe me, I've tried! I've gone to events where I'm speaking, networking and covering things for a publication. That's a 20-hour day, and it shortens your life in a hurry. It's important to think -- before you get on that plane -- about why you're really going, and what isn't a core mission, and make choices accordingly.
My second tip is to be strategic. Look at the agenda while you're still at the office and choose a small number of things that you simply must do. By "small," I mean four per day, say, two sessions and two meetings.
Everybody will pressure you to RSVP to a million things, but if you do that then you're not really doing anything well, and there's no serendipity. I have a lot of great conversations in the elevator, the halls, the expo, the press room, at the bar... all because I'm not overscheduled. Except, of course, when it's one of my events.