Forums are great but REI chats in person are awesome!
My wife (@Elizabeth Wilson) and I recently had a glorious trip through Western Canada. At the last minute we decided to post a networking request in the Calgary and Vancouver forums just to meet others involved in REI. I wish was had posted earlier because we missed some folks in Vancouver, but we did have an amazing chat with @Stuart Bartwicki at the Nash restaurant in Calgary.
All that is really just an encouragement to use any type of travel to meet with the locals working in REI. It was fun for us to share insights about investing in Memphis and hear how @Stuart Bartwicki is rocking the real estate world in Calgary.