I've had good luck at niche meetups like for one particular language or framework. And then less good specific but decently good networking at interesting side

I've had good luck at niche meetups like for one particular language or framework. And then less good specific but decently good networking at interesting side projects meetups. I think the general purpose tech meetups can be hit/miss. It takes some work to find the best big one in a city. The best one in my city asks that only startup employees attend and not third party recruiters unless they're sponsoring. It also helps if the meetup is hosted at an incubator or accelerator type space — one signal of quality vs a random place.