Peter Urey, one of my LinkedIn contacts, recently sent me a note suggesting I might find some value in a post he had created on his blog about tips on using Linkedin to "gossip" as a way of creating connections. You can read it here
I'd also suggest you take a few minutes to browse through some of the other posts on his blog. Most are relevant to recruitment consultants (probably less so for researchers and in house recruiters) as they have a strong sales focus.
