Any advice or suggestions on how I can meet like-minded individuals?
This network might not give you direct access to the people you want to talk to, but that seems to be the idea behind networking. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
If you don't regularly write a blog, you might consider that. It's a way to have people interested in what you're doing contact you rather than the other way around.
What I do in order to socialize / find people who can complement projects that I'm, working on? I write to my blog and share posts on topics that I care about in local social communities. Then I monitor a reaction. Also I like to join discussions in the social networks where potentially I can find some people with the same vision :)