Ask Kathy Magee what she hopes to accomplish by attending next week's World Congress of Information Technology and her answer is clear: 5,000 surgeries.

Magee represents Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization in Norfolk that provides reconstructive surgery for poor children and adults worldwide. The goal of its next project, called Smiles of Hope, is to arrange surgeries in 19 countries next spring.

Magee also represents one of the scores of World Congress attendees whose expertise has little to do with information technology.

They're lured not by the mass of technology brainpower or keynote speeches such as "Global Linkages, Macroeconomics Interdependence and Cooperation in the World Economy." Instead, they look at the roll of executives from one of the world's explosive growth industries and see clients who need attorneys to navigate local laws, real estate brokers to find office space, elected officials to propose tax breaks, universities to offer research partnerships, and so on.

For the non-techies, this is the ultimate meet market, an opportunity to chat, maybe exchange phone numbers, perhaps plant the seeds of a lasting and rewarding business relationship that will bring jobs, contracts or revenues.

Most hail from this region, capitalizing on what some say is the rare opportunity to market their communities or needs to an audience of international financiers. Fairfax County, the host municipality, will dispatch more than two dozen economic development authority officials and sponsor three hospitality events.

Nearly every neighboring area will be represented.

Gene Bailey is driving up from Stafford County, Va., with his pitch ready for delivery – that Stafford ranks 30th on a list of America's fastest-growing counties and would be an ideal location for an emerging or established company.

"If I could come out of there with three good, solid leads, I think we will have done very well," said Bailey, Stafford's assistant administrator for economic development. His efforts may not pay off for a year or more.

He also knows the competition is not just local.

Scan a list of attendees who planned to attend and find real estate agents from Manhattan, Denver and Silicon Valley; a city council director from Aberdeen, Scotland; economic development officials from Germany, accountants from Switzerland, even a representative of the New York-based Seychelles Tourist Office. Australia, France, Taiwan and Hungary all have planned hospitality events.

The CIA expected to be there. So did the Nature Conservancy. The National Court Reporters Association will transcribe speeches and discussions, trying to show that its 31,000 members do more than record depositions and trials.

Jerry Gordon, the president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, credits the event with spurring three existing companies to consider expanding operations in the county. He declined to discuss details and was reluctant to predict how much, if any, economic benefit the region or state might derive.

Paul Young, the information technology coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey, hopes to hear predictions that might help his agency plan how to better disseminate data. He also expects to be courted by technology companies looking for contracts. He looks forward to the hallway conversations.

"Sometimes you can ask more probing questions if you're standing around at a coffee break and find out the guy next to you knows something," Young said.

Juan Carlos Marquez is one of four attorneys attending from the Falls Church office of Hazel & Thomas, P.C. He'll be connecting with his existing clients and mining the crowds for more. He's a patent lawyer, but he'll help market his firm to any company considering business in the commonwealth.

Michael Carrier has several goals. As a member of the Shenandoah Valley Technology Council, he's looking for tenants for industrial parks in Waynesboro-Staunton, Harrisonburg and Shenandoah County.

As dean of the College of Integrated Science and Technology at James Madison University, he said he hopes to lure prospective employers to his campus. He's also seeking resources for a new telecommunications concentration the school plans to offer this fall.

Magee, from Operation Smile, wants to enlist help establishing a network for her organization's medical personnel to communicate with universities and hospitals worldwide.

She's worked conferences before. She credits one nine years ago with persuading the General Federation of Women's Clubs to assist Operation Smile. Since then, Magee said, the federation has donated nearly $700,000 in aid.

She'll follow next week's introductions with letters and phone calls. By the end of the summer, she'll have a sense of how successful the World Congress was. But it seems far more promising than a round of cold calls.

"It's like, instead of one on one, you're exposing yourself to people who are leaders in their field," Magee said. "They have vision; they know how to make this happen."