[barrkel]

I'm not a US citizen; but I've attended various interest groups, but to be frank, most of the folks I've met aren't up to much. Far better are the contacts I've made while I've been speaking at conferences, and in that case, it's the speakers who are the contacts, not the plebs who attend.

But like I said, I'm fairly happy with my current job, so I feel no big pressure to integrate with the local scene.