I live far from the Valley but every single time I'm in SF I make it a point to attend a meetup three or four nights a week. As a coder I meet the people who wrote the books or headline the conferences. I can walk up afterward and ask for advice.

I meet founders, some of whom will eventually be household names and others not. I've kept up email correspondence with a few of my fellow user group managers and I try to take them out to lunch when I return.

Probably will be in SF in April if any HN'ers want to hit me up, especially those interested in the No Code space.