lispnyc
I have started attending lispnyc events. Wow, what a group. This is the smartest room full of programmers I have ever been in. It is also a surprisingly approachable group. Whether or not you care about about lisp or functional programming I recommend that you attend. Not everyone there programs in lisp or even a functional language for their day job, they all care about programming though. As I learn more about lisp, through events like this, more and more thoughts pop into my head which enhances my code in less functional languages.