EA global tips. What helped you get the most out of it?

This depends a bunch on your temperament, but I find general 'mingling' - going into a large room full of people and speaking to whoever I come across - really exhausting. I've gotten a lot out of looking through the people coming on the app beforehand, seeing who I'd particularly like to meet, and then setting up times/places to meet with them in advance. It makes the experience feel less rushed and more targeted to me.

Most but not all talks are recorded and you can watch them later. "My current plan is to largely try and meet people" sounds like a good plan to me. The meetups can be an especially good venue for this.

Plan people I'm likely to enjoy talking to.

I've found that finding people to meet is the highest impact activity. If I do it well I'll have lots of energy and enjoy the meetings.