Indeed, a good place to start. Ian Landsman is very well connected to the community. However, keep in mind that the best kind of knowledge exchange is probably happening 1-on-1. Just like when attending conferences (Microconf, Business of Software, BaconBizConf, etc): there is a lot more value being exchanged in the hallways than in the auditoriums.

If it feels a bit like networking... thats because it is.