Yeah, I ran 'em back when I still lived in California. I'm too far away to do much more than run the list, and I'm only doin' that 'cause no one is excited about takin' it over. There's three people takin' over, one for the Silicon Valley, one for the Sacramento area, and one for the LA area. The moment I get one of them either wantin' the list or wantin' me to announce an event for them, out it goes.
I have complete faith in them as hosts, as they've all hosted or cohosted several events with me.
QBWeaver handles the Silicon Valley events now, and if you've a ticklish bone in ya, she'll find it. They're a lot of fun, and a great social outlet. I hope you get to connect wit' one soon.
I also would suggest visiting NEST at LEAST once in your lifetime. I've been to several, and it's radically different as an experience to the West Coast Gatherings. Both are fun, but they're different events for me. NEST was huge, comparatively, and I thus got to meet so many more people. The hotel was a tickling scene all it's own. Max is one cool guy. Heck, all of the NEST original crew are quite the cool crowd. I'll be there next time, with my wife, if it's at all possible.
Attend a West Coast Gathering if you live in California or near enough to drive. Attend your local events, those of you in other locales. It's how you meet the rest of us. It's how I ultimately met my wife. Met her through others I'd met at events, and she knew of me through my activities and efforts in the community. I could have missed out on the finest woman I've ever known, the best match I've found, and the soulmate I've sought my whole life. Gatherings have also found me friends that are in touch as much, and sometimes more, than my vanilla friends of youth.
Geez, you'd think I was a spokesman or somethin'. They're significant things, these events, to me. I hope you dig 'em, too!
dvnc
Muhahahahaha! But I can't even count how many times that has been done to me. *giggle* Yeah Yeah.. I love it! 
