In any case, I'm pretty sure that there are other scheduled meetups closer to me (Houston, Austin, NC, LA) -- is this only drawing from a list that are formatted or registered?
Only three meetups have been entered using the new system. Many other meetups have been announced using normal posts in the Discussion area, and summarised in promoted meetup summary posts (which was the official way to announce meetups a day ago).
Also, it's disconcerting for Australia to be called "nearby", and only a little less so for it to count as "nearest", even if that's literally true for that set.
There are many meetups not yet entered into the new system, and their coverage of the globe is pretty good. I think Australian meetups will disappear from your list in a few days.
There will be some users who really are geographically far from any organised meetups… perhaps they could resolve their disconcertion by organising a close meetup :)
Okay, I didn't know it was only listing meetups from a new entry system (rather than, say, all recurring meetups). Any reason Australia is above Seattle? (I know that's pretty minor as an issue.)
ETA: Note that no further meetup summary posts are planned. Further coordination will take place via the Upcoming Meetups tab on the right-side site navigation bar.
There are upcoming irregularly scheduled Less Wrong meetups in:
Cities with regularly scheduled meetups: New York, Berkeley, Mountain View, Cambridge, MA, Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, Irvine. And now, Washington, DC and West Los Angeles.
If you'd like to talk with other LW-ers face to face, and there is no meetup in your area, consider starting your own meetup; it's easy (more resources here). Check one out, stretch your rationality skills, and have fun!
To reduce front page clutter, the new plan is for meetups to be initially posted in the Discussion section, and for Anna Salamon to make a promoted post "upcoming meetups" post every Friday that links to every meet-up that has been planned for the next two weeks. For this week, please let me know if your meetup is omitted.
Please note that for your meetup to appear in the weekly meetups feature, you need to post about your meetup before the Friday before your meetup!
If you check Less Wrong irregularly, consider subscribing to one or more city-specific mailing list in order to be notified when an irregular meetup is happening: London, Chicago, Southern California (Los Angeles/Orange County area), St. Louis, Ottawa, Helsinki, Melbourne.