No REIA in my area (Southern Oregon)? Ideas?

[Walter V.]

So if you listen to the BP podcast at all, you'll hear over and over again one of the BEST things you can do when first starting out as a REI is going to local community event like a REIA meeting. I would love to go meet people and talk real estate investing with other people and learn as much as I can. I would be sooo willing do free work for a more experienced investor just so I could learn the ropes.

Unfortunately I live in southern oregon, and the closest meetings are apprx 4 hours away, which isn't ideal for me since I work 40+hrs a week and I've done some searching and there's only a couple members of BP that don't seem very active. I've considered putting on my own meeting, but really I wouldn't know how to start because I don't know the format of a traditional meeting + I'm brand new to real estate investing, so I'd feel a little foolish of leading any type of meeting? 

Anyhoo, anybody else in a similar situation? What are some things you've done to network with locals?