I'm looking for experienced investors to JV with (as a learning experience), and sellers to buy from.I'm curious as to the unwritten rules & traditions of these conferences.

And then they get all defensive and make it incredibly challenging to move forward.

Tenants can have very valid complaints but there are some who complain about everything or get defensive when asked to follow the rules and respect their neighbors. 

An umbrella policy is going to be your first line of defense especially from tenants, but the LLC (especially one nested within a Wyoming, Nevada, or Deleware entity) will provide inside-out and outside-in protection and fortify your asset protection strategy

Welcome Andrew....I will be visiting your beautiful state in October for the NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers) annual national conference.  

I first met Bob at the Note Investor Summit (another extremely worthwhile conference) in San Diego, 2015 and I began mentoring under him after hearing him present at that conference.  

If the previous tenant had no bed bugs and the current tenant now claims she has them it's possible that your problem tenant is telling the truth... having brought them with her from her previous residence.You might confer with your problem tenant's previous landlord to see if she made any similar previous claim--if you're permitted to inquire along such lines in your state, check with your lawyer--this could be useful.

It definitely took some self control to not get defensive.

Is a hangout like a multiple person video conference of sorts Josh?

Now in defense of good tenants.