How do I ask for an informational chat? (update)

I want to talk to people in a new field but I hate cold messages. There are 3 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. Some people reply with short answers. How do you phrase the request?

Follow up with a thank-you and a short update. One of my chats led to a referral a month later.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 14 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.