An email urging you to download the “forum-networking app” to start “making new connections” before next week’s “knowledge-sharing experience” reminds you of something you had pushed to the back of your mind: you are going to a conference.

If you are a paediatric nephrologist meeting colleagues to discuss the latest in children’s dialysis, a founder looking for investors, or a speaker, you know what to do. But if – like most conference attendees, including, on occasion, this columnist – you are not sure why you are here, you need a strategy.

The Economist