I've done this by reaching out to friends and old work colleagues to see what they're up to and offering to help. Because it's people you know it is much easie

I've done this by reaching out to friends and old work colleagues to see what they're up to and offering to help. Because it's people you know it is much easier to make arrangements you will both be happy with. After 15 years working in software that turns out to be quite a lot of people, especially if you take the time to regularly reach out to people via LinkedIn etc.