In the entrepreneurship book I’m writing, in the chapter about networking, I talk quite a bit about the power of doing homework – learning everything you possibly can about a person you’ll be meeting before you actually meet up. People are always surprised and flattered to discover you’ve gone through the trouble of finding out more about them, and you can build strong ties very quickly by knowing in advance common interests that can launch discussion.

I say this because, in two weekends, I’ll be heading to the Reboot conference, a yearly retreat organized by the Spielberg and Bronfman foundations, at which young Jewish movers and shakers (and this year, by their likely mistaken inclusion, me) try and assess the state of American Judaism, of how to make the evolving religious civilization of the Jews relevant to modern life. As one past attendee jokingly described it, sort of the yearly meeting of the Youngers of Zion.

Yesterday, I received in the mail a large packet from Reboot, with about twenty-five articles and excerpts meant to ignite thinking in advance of the actual event. And, in the pile, was a collection of short bios of the fifty or so attendees. So, following my own advice, I’ve been diligently researching each attendee through the magic of Google, making flashcards for each, and working to memorize their individual details.

It’s a bit of an experiment, as I’ve never tried networking research on such a large scale, and I’m very curious to see whether it actually pays off.