By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

AM&AA summer conference follow up should start within 48 hours. Text the bankers and sponsors who named a fall process or an active search at your Deal Connect table first, send every intro you promised second, then touch everyone again in late August, before the processes launch.

It is Wednesday night in Chicago and the closing reception is loud. You sat at a Deal Connect table for two days. A banker said a family owned manufacturer is going out after Labor Day. A sponsor said they need one more add on before the fund’s next close. A senior lender asked you to keep them in mind. By the time you land, it is July, and July in M&A is quiet. That quiet is where June conversations go to die.

I run matchmaking for two communities, and most of my attention goes to what happens after a room empties. Here is how I would run this one.

What makes the AM&AA summer room different?

It is a scheduled meeting room in the middle of the year. The official 2026 Summer Conference page lists June 9 to 10, 2026 at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel, organized by the Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors. AM&AA had not posted 2027 summer details when this was written, so check amaaconference.com for dates.

Per that page, the crowd is investment banks and intermediaries, private equity investors, senior and mezzanine lenders, CPAs, attorneys, business valuators, consultants and other M&A advisors. The core format is Deal Connect: 20 minute meetings at designated tables during set time slots over two days, about seven hours in all.

The 2026 summer agenda ran Deal Connect from 8 AM both days, alongside general sessions on the market, AI, cross border deals and sourcing. It had an Opening Reception on Day 1, a Breakfast and Chapter Networking hour on Day 2, an Award Luncheon, and a Closing Reception at AceBounce.

Three things shape your follow up.

1. Your meetings are short and stacked. Twenty minutes, then the next person. Context goes fast.
2. The calendar works against you. June talk is about fall processes, and summer slows everyone down. Your first text gets read. Your second one, in August, is the one that counts.
3. You will see them again in January. AM&AA also runs a Winter Conference. The people you met in Chicago are likely the same people at the next one. See the AM&AA Winter Conference follow up for that room.

Before the conference: who to book

Walk in with ten names and a reason for each.

• If you are a banker: the sponsors whose platforms fit the clients you plan to take out in the fall.
• If you are PE: the intermediaries in your sectors. Ask what goes out between September and December.
• If you are a lender: the sponsors and bankers on fall deals, before the term sheet race starts.
• If you are a CPA, attorney or valuator: the bankers who will need a quality of earnings or legal partner when a fall process starts.

Write one line next to each name about why. That line becomes your first text.

At the table: capture in 10 seconds

You get about a minute between Deal Connect meetings. Use ten seconds of it.

Capture three things: the name, the timing they gave, and what you promised. “[Name], banker, family manufacturer going out after Labor Day, $4M EBITDA, I owe him our buy box.” The timing is the part people skip, and it is the part that tells you when to text again. Snap the badge or card. The method in detail is in how to remember everyone you meet at a conference.

AM&AA summer conference follow up: who first in the 48 hours?

Sort by how soon the deal moves.

1. Anyone who named a fall launch or an active search. They are building buyer lists or deal lists this summer.
2. Anyone you promised an intro. A promised intro that slips costs more than one you never offered.
3. Lenders you want on your next deal. Get in before you need them.
4. Chapter peers from the networking breakfast. These are local referral partners. A week is fine.

Example texts, each under 40 words:

[Name], good to sit down at Deal Connect in Chicago. You mentioned the manufacturer going out after Labor Day. We would want a look. Can I send our buy box now so it is on file?

[Name], as promised from AM&AA, connecting you with [Name] at [Firm]. She finances exactly the add on size you described. I will let you two take it from here.

[Name], great meeting at the chapter breakfast. If a client of yours needs a valuation before going to market this fall, I would like to be the call.

For the general triage, see who to follow up with first after a conference.

A June to January follow up timeline

The summer conference sits between two clocks: fall processes and the next winter conference. Here is how I would space the touches.

When	What to send	Why then
Within 48 hours	First text with one detail from the table	They still remember you
Late August	A deal, a buy box or a note on their fall process	Processes are about to launch
October	Congratulations on a close or a new hire you saw	Keeps you recent through the busy season
Early December	“Going to the Winter Conference? Let’s book Deal Connect time.”	You walk into January with meetings set
After the Winter Conference	Follow the winter playbook	The loop starts again

The math is illustrative. Say you took 20 Deal Connect meetings in June and texted all 20 within 48 hours. If only five hear from you again in August, the other 15 are strangers by the time their fall process goes out. The banker builds the buyer list from whoever is recent. The full before, during and after method is in the conference follow up system.

The system that does this for you

I built FRONT OF MIND because I watched people meet the right person, have a real conversation, then disappear for months. At the table, say a name and a sentence out loud, snap the badge or card, or take a selfie together, and it is filed under the event.

It opens on your 10 minutes for today. Each person has one line on why today, like you met at AM&AA two days ago and never followed up, or a follow up is due, plus a drafted text of 40 words or less. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. In August, ask Liala “who do I know that is a senior lender” and get the right people with why. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them, and you can export or delete anytime.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who from Chicago comes up first.

See how it works