Minneapolis/St. Paul are not huge cities and having the benefit of growing up here I find that my professional network pretty much covers the greater metro area

Minneapolis/St. Paul are not huge cities and having the benefit of growing up here I find that my professional network pretty much covers the greater metro area. It seems like everyone knows each other or is only a connection or two away. With that being said, the best way is to pull on a professional network (natch) and the best way to build that network is to attend some of the tech focused meetups in either city. Ruby.mn is pretty popular if you're into Ruby (or just wanting to meet devs in general). Otherwise the safest route is to join up with one of the large firms and build a network from there to branch out into more smaller gigs if thats your thing.