Networking without feeling pushy - 9 weeks in

I want to talk to people in a new field but I hate cold messages. There are 11 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. I worry about bothering people. How do you phrase the request?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 11 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

I asked what they wish they had known at my stage. People enjoy answering that.