I would suggest offering your services to a level you feel that is equal to your skill, but always consider doing shoots that could benefit your portfolio or skillset at a discounted/free rate.
Once you have enough shoots under your belt that you are proud of, you’ll be able to just talk casually to people and photography will come up. If you have solid work, people will be interested and you will just find your niche, or explore all of them.
Don’t pigeonhole yourself and just do what you want because what you see with your eyes, and how you use your tools to capture, will be unique in itself.

Yeah, you’ll be fine.

I always pack it with me and definitely use it at events I shoot, but depending upon how packed the event is and where your vantage point is, it may become problematic to fit the subjects in frame.

What type of event is it?