Contacting authors at conference after refereeing their work There are a few questions about contacting authors of papers when acting as a referee, but my question is related to the review of conference proceedings. After reviewing a paper which was submitted as a work in progress (meaning that it is in the early stages and the author intends to receive feedback at the conference) I am wondering whether I should approach them at the conference and reveal that I was a reviewer on the work. As I reviewed the paper I thought their idea was good but there are lots of small things I've commented on; perhaps since I reviewed the paper I have read it more closely than others will.

So the conversation would be, 


  Hey I read your paper, such and such title, as a reviewer before the conference and I thought it was good. I've been thinking about your ideas since then and ...


I can obviously approach them noting that I've read the proceedings, but should I reveal my work as a reviewer?
This is just my opinion; in some conferences and journals, it is specifically mentioned that the review process is blind and the authors should not know who the reviewers are.

If I was the author, I would be more comfortable with your opinion about my work, without mentioning that you have reviewed the paper.

You can simply say: "Look, I have read your paper and listened to your talk, some might say ..., but I believe .... You'd better work on ... etc"

You don't need to mention that you reviewed it at all (although they can pick it up quickly). If you explicitly mentioned it, you can put the authors in an awkward situation.