Thanks for the heads up clout, I'll try to read those links and redouble my efforts to actually attend one of these mumble-hangouts.
Something always seems to come up, which is a shame, because it is a great opportunity to get some feedback directly from Dan Larimer. Does anybody know how much time there is for though community questions? Judging from the recent forum-hubub there seem to be quite a few questions and concerns that get people all fired up and it might be a good place to address at least some of them.