the checklist approach works, but don't get too tunnel visioned on a specific number of people. i once went to a conference with a goal to hit exactly three recruiters and ended up
ignoring the actual engineers at the booths who were much more interesting. instead of a headcount, try focusing on finding one person working on a
tech stack you actually care about. if you find someone using something like
rust
or
go
, that's a win regardless of how many other people you talk to. are you planning to attend any of the specific workshops there? it might be easier to strike up a conversation during a breakout session than just walking up to strangers in a crowded hall.