I've been browsing LessWrong less often as of late, and I believe that one of the reasons is because I don't want to get all excited all over a new insightful LW post, only to discover that it's a meetup in a city that I'm not even in.
And for newbies to the site in particular, they're not going to see all the awesomeness of this site if they simply look at the frontpage and think it's a community just for meetups.
I'm sure meetup discussions can go somewhere prominent. Maybe a separate section can be devoted to them.
Er, I'm in Central Florida...and would be interested in a meetup. (Assuming it does not conflict with my crazy travel schedule, of course! :)
If you have a crazy travel schedule, perhaps you'll be able to get to NYC before I do and ferry back the smoldering igniter for a local group. Although "local" may be a stretch; I live in St. Petersburg; the space coast is about a 3 hour drive.