If you have a genuinely good relationship the people that you’re speaking with then I wouldn’t worry about name dropping them.
It’s usually more profitable to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
As long as you’re not outright lying you’ll be fine. For example saying that Barry is really keen to work with you when he overtly said he wasn’t interested.
Otherwise, name drop on the phone (“oh yes, your came up in conversation”) rather than over email where the email might get forwarded on.
