I have been to lots of meets and found them really helpful. I even went to a couple in London making a special trip down from Scotland to them, one was a trip to Greenwich by boat and other a trip to Westminster Abbey. I wrote about my experiences and progress in my personal page at www.geocities.com/nelconsult
Also now that my social anxiety has reduced quite a bit I am able to go to a broader range of meets organised via the site www.meetup.com - not just shyness meets but others too.
So I would recommend meets either through meetup.com or those organised via www.social-anxiety.org.uk