I feel like networking at events is valuable, but networking events are less so with some exceptions. You ideally want to bump into someone with a high value network, but most of the people going to networking events are going to the events because they don't have a high value network.

An exception would be mixers for interns and juniors; few people have a developed network at that point, so even those with a couple good contacts are interested in expanding, and there's a lot of potential.