picked a handful of violets in my name

Hmmm - networking is not first-order career beneficial, I wouldn't think -won't get you a job - but it has a knock-on effect that you may be more likely to get invited to speak, be involved in projects, get known and do reputation-building stuff: always provided you don't concurrently get a rep for being a diva, ignoring deadlines, and leaving your footprints on people's backs as you walk over them to get at the superstars they were talking to. And providing your actual work reaches a certain standard of competence...