I'm just going by what he says here: "How, exactly, does that fit in with I certainly don't want cold-calls or cold emails, ever. If I can't introduce myself to the guy, how am I ever meant to prove I'm not one of the many useless bottom-feeders he deals with on a daily basis?"

Correct. I'm also one of the co-organisers of HN London, an event I attended religiously as a recruiter (mainly because of the free beer & pizza). I address the networking V cold calling approach in another comment above.