Does networking work at all?

Things like attending your local chamber of commerce meeting, etc.

Basically, I'm just looking for new ideas and gleaning info in certain industries to see if something might find a receptive audience.

Of course it does. Interact with as many local functions you can think of. Pass out business cards whenever it's appropriate. Volunteering within the community also can open up a whole new client base. i.e. little league, high school sports, art festivals, etc.

networking is always a Pro, just remember this as a rule of thumb there's going to be more pointless Business relationships in your life, then relationships that's actually going to get you somewhere or open a door for you, Except that and you will be fine. People become discouraged quickly because they they think the majority of people they come in contact with are going to be beneficial to them.

Remember there are 2 type of people in the world
1. Assets
2. liabilities

And here's is what I mean by that, I'm sure you already know the definition of what a asset is but if not An asset is a property owned by a person or corporation which has monetary worth. However when you look at this word from a networking stand point this is what it means in short. A person of value and what I mean by that is this person might be able to help you and intern you can help them and you both grow together your a asset to him/her and there a asset to you.

A liability is A thing for which someone is responsible, esp. a debt or financial obligation. However from a networking stand point it means this
A person who is going to waste your DAMN! time. Remember this TIME IS MONEY! and if someone is wasting your time there wasting your money look at it like this how many hours do u have in a day 24 hours total

8 of those hours u sleep now your down to 16 hours, another 8 hours your at work (9-5) now your down to 8 hours if u have kids or family and just entertaining yourself even driving around will take up another 4-6 hours so techincally you have 2 hours a day to really think of something that will break that cycle remember TIME IS MONEY! and time is very very very EXPENSIVE!

So to sum this little thing up, u need to quickly identify if the person is asset or liability this doesn't mean u can't be friends with that person it just means that you can evaluate the time you spend talking to that person about something that will not turn into any type value.

TIME IS MONEY!

I agree with the poster above in that many of the people you'll meet will be liabilities. Many of the "businessmen" I meet are always talking about some start up company, which inevitably ends up being a time and money waster that even they will forget about shortly. MANY of them cannot even answer simple questions like "how are you going to monetize your site?" Few people are actually good businessmen, though many pretend to be. If you can find the ones who are, it's a gold mine.

Just make sure you realize which type of person you're talking to.