The problem here is that even at the speed of light it could take thousands of years for a signal to reach its destination. Would be difficult to hold a conversation with each reply taking longer than recorded history. We are broadcasting into space as we speak. So in effect, we are already announcing our presence.
What my SETI search is looking for is a civilization doing the same thing we are, communicating via radio (microwave). Unlike the movies (i.e. Contact), we are not looking for "information". We are just looking for a very sharp narrowband signal that indicates non-natural emanation. To further the odds, we are looking at millions of frequencies at the same time. This is not unlike listening to millions of FM stations on a radio simultaneously. The reason we look at so many frequencies, is that we don't know what frequency may be reaching us, should there be one.
Also note, I do not "believe" in ET. I suspect there may be other civilizations (ET) out there. If we do not look we will never know. This IMHO, is win win science. If we do find a signal that would be profound, if we do not, that too is profound.
If we do "see" and confirm a signal, it will redefine our place in the universe.