I am a big proponent of professional organizations. I believe these groups well serve the design community as an important part of keeping yourself informed at the local level. Local groups in my area are AIGA SF, WADC, and BayCHI. In San Francisco, AIGA's lecture series is worth checking out to see at least one person who you admired in art school or are still plagiarizing today. haha

Lately, I've been also participating in online forums as a way to stay connected to topics related to design on a daily basis. I usually go by the tag
xtian or neon_bikini@hotmail.com Here is a list of some of my favorites:
AIGA Experience Design
Interaction Designers
Coroflot
Macromedia Flash

CUTHERE