1) AAS Meetings are large and overwhelming, even for those of us that have been to many. You have to pick carefully what sessions you attend to avoid brain overload. 2) My experience is that 5 minute talks in general sessions are useless, unless they are exactly in your area. I avoid them. I only go to general session talks if someone I know is giving their PhD thesis defense. 3) Special hour-long invited lectures usually held at 8:15 am and 11:30 just before lunch, and again some late afternoons, are often very good, and worth attending. 4) Special science sessions with invited talks that are 30 minutes in length can be quite good if you are interested in the topic. 5) Reading posters is best bang for the buck. Spend plenty of time looking at posters and take notes in a small notebook on interesting posters. Pick 2-4 per day that relate closely to your interests and spend time there talking with the authors. 6) It's ok to not know everything. It's ok not to know everything. It's ok not to know everything. You're beginning students and people understand that. It's better to thoughtfully and humbly tell people what you've done so far and why you are doing it than to make apologies and excuses and BS something trying to sound impressive. Most astronomers are very nice and eager to help promote the career of a student. 7) On your poster day, spend at very least the coffee sessions in the morning and afternoon at your poster to talk to people. Be enthusiastic about what you're doing, but humbly seek advice. The whole point of being there is to let the field know what you are doing and to seek advice and suggestions from experts who will probably wander by and be interested in your work. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF A 2-MINUTE CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE! Almost every paper I've ever written I can trace to a conversation at some meeting which I did not deem significant at the time, but in retrospect was a formative point in my career. Ask questions of any experts that stop by...people love to give advice...make it work for you. Related to that, I recommend that students write and memorize 3- sentences (an elevator speech!) that will serve as the opening catch line for your poster. As people wander up to your poster and decide if they are interested, there will be this awkward moment where neither you nor the other person are sure what to say. Fill this space with your opening 2-3 sentences. Rather than fumble over them, write them now and perfect them and memorize them. (I do the same thing when I give talks so that I get started on a strong, confident note.) Then they can decide if they want to hear more. Mine might go something like "Hi. My team computed the completeness of mid-IR catalogs generated from large Spitzer surveys. Bright diffuse background emission limits the depth of most catalogs, so this is important for anyone using Spitzer IRAC survey data. " ** Chip's #1 rule for meetings: Make it your goal to meet 2 new people each day. Meet them at their posters and have significant science conversations with them about their work. Go out to lunch with them. Meeting people and making contacts is the main reason to go to meetings! I can trace almost every paper I've ever written back to a short conversation at some meeting that sparked it. ** Chip's #2 rule for meetings: Hang around with people from your own institution as little as possible. I know it's hard to go to meetings when you don't know many people, but force yourself to meet students (and faculty) from other institutions and have meals with them as much as possible. Students are easy to meet and generally very friendly. Before you know it, you'll be connected with grad students and astronomers all over the country who may become your peers/employers/students/best friends/collaborators/spouses (yes, it happens). If you're a student thinking head to jobs and grad school, then this is a good place to make contacts. ** Chip's #3 rule: Let the meeting inspire you rather than overwhelm you! Come back pumped up and enthused to finish your own projects given what you've seen going on in the community. That way, you can go to the next meeting, see your new friends who will by then have become old friends, and participate in the life of the astronomical community! Dress expectations: Only NASA administrators wear ties. Nevertheless, it's good to look professional. Even though you'll see students there in jeans (or even shorts) and sandals, I recommend business casual. For Hawaii, however, the standards are maybe different. Even the lawyers in Hawaii wear khaki's and aloha shirts.