Peep Laja, CEO @ Wynter and 3x founder, recently shared something that caught my attention: "I love so many things about Spryng but my favorite time at the conference is the hours after the official agenda. From 5pm to midnight." He went on to describe those late hours as the moment when "the real deep conversations happen," when people get "extra honest and even vulnerable," and when you stop collecting contacts and start making friends.

That framing resonates because it names a truth most of us feel but rarely plan for. The best part of many conferences is not the keynote, the breakout room, or the perfectly scheduled networking slot. It is the unstructured time when the stakes drop, the scripts dissolve, and people finally show up as humans.

In this post, I want to expand on what Peep is pointing to: why the hours after the official agenda are often the highest-ROI part of an event, how to make the most of them (without being awkward or exhausting), and how to turn a few late-night conversations into real professional community.

The hidden agenda: the relationships that form after 5pm

Peep’s line "From 5pm to midnight" is more than a time window. It is a shift in social dynamics.

During the official agenda, we are all in performance mode. We are thinking about what we do, what we should say, who we should meet, and whether we are using our time wisely. Even the best conversations can feel transactional because everyone is scanning the room and watching the clock.

After the agenda ends, something changes:

The pressure to be "on" drops.
People stop optimizing and start connecting.
Conversations stretch long enough to get past surface-level topics.

"This is when the real deep conversations happen." - Peep Laja

Depth takes time. You cannot speedrun trust in seven minutes between sessions. But you can stumble into it over an unplanned dinner, a long walk back to the hotel, or a late-night discussion where you finally admit what is not working.

Why honesty shows up when the schedule ends

Peep noted that in those hours, topics get "extra honest and even vulnerable." That is not accidental. Vulnerability usually needs three ingredients:

1) Psychological safety

When people feel they are no longer being evaluated, they share more. The formal conference environment can feel like a workplace with badges. The informal environment feels like a temporary village.

2) Shared context

Conferences create instant shared experience: the same talks, the same hallway conversations, the same industry pain. That shared context lowers the cost of starting a meaningful conversation.

3) Time to move past small talk

Most people do not enjoy small talk, but it is often a necessary ramp. The after-hours window is long enough to climb that ramp.

A pattern I have noticed: once someone shares a real challenge (a stalled project, a hiring mistake, a scary revenue dip), it grants permission for everyone else to be real too. The conversation becomes less about impressing and more about helping.

Conferences as community builders, not content factories

Peep’s post is also a subtle reminder that conferences are not just about information. We can get information anywhere. We can watch recordings at 1.5x speed and skim summaries.

What you cannot download is belonging.

When Peep says, "You get to know everyone as humans," he is describing the thing that makes community possible: seeing the person behind the title. That is also why the outcome is so different.

"In the end, you feel like you made real friends." - Peep Laja

Friends are not made through efficient networking. They are made through repeated, low-pressure proximity and small moments of honesty.

A practical playbook for making after-hours count

If you agree with Peep that the best part starts after the agenda, the obvious question is: how do you actually do it well?

1) Treat evenings as first-class programming (for yourself)

Do not stack your calendar so tightly that you are too depleted to be social. If you are introverted, plan recovery time so you can show up for the evening window with energy.

Practical moves:

Avoid booking late work calls during the event.
Leave one meal unplanned so you can say yes to invitations.
Pick one night to stay out late, not all of them.

2) Ask questions that invite real answers

You do not need to force vulnerability. You just need better prompts than "So, what do you do?"

Try:

"What are you working on that is harder than you expected?"
"What is something you changed your mind about this year?"
"What is a bet you are making right now?"
"What brought you to this conference, really?"

These questions match the tone Peep is describing: honest, human, and slightly open-ended.

3) Become a connector, not a collector

After-hours is where you can create value fast by introducing two people who should know each other. This also takes the pressure off you to carry every conversation.

A simple line works: "You two should meet. You are both thinking about X from different angles." Then step back and let them run.

4) Use small group settings to go deeper

Big parties can be fun, but depth is usually a small-group phenomenon. If you want the kind of conversations Peep described, prioritize dinners, quiet hotel bars, late coffee, or walks.

If you are hosting, keep it simple:

4 to 8 people
one clear time and place
one optional prompt (for example: "What is your biggest bottleneck right now?")

5) Follow up like you actually meant it

The real magic is not just in meeting someone. It is in continuing the relationship.

Within 48 hours, send a message that proves you were present:

reference a specific moment
share the promised resource
propose a next step that is easy (a 20-minute call, an intro, a doc)

If the goal is community, the follow-up should feel like the next chapter, not a sales sequence.

What Peep Laja’s post teaches about LinkedIn content (and why it went viral)

Even though the topic is conferences, the post itself is a good case study in LinkedIn content and content strategy.

A few reasons it likely resonated:

Specificity: "From 5pm to midnight" paints a scene.
Emotional truth: most professionals have felt the difference between scheduled networking and real connection.
Warm invitation: "Come to Spryng this March and experience it for yourself" is a CTA, but it is grounded in meaning, not hype.

This is a useful reminder for anyone trying to write better LinkedIn content: the posts that travel are often the ones that name a shared human experience in a concrete way.

If you are going to Spryng, make room for the real conference

Peep ends with: "We’re all in this together." That is not just a nice sentiment. It is a practical lens for how to show up.

If you want Spryng (or any conference) to be more than a stack of business cards, plan for the hours that are not on the agenda. Say yes to the dinner. Ask the question that is slightly more honest than usual. Stay long enough for the conversation to turn real. And then follow up like a friend, not a lead.

Because if Peep is right, the official agenda is just the front door. The community forms after 5pm.

This blog post expands on a viral LinkedIn post by Peep Laja, CEO @ Wynter. 3x Founder.. View the original LinkedIn post →