If people are looking for mentors to meet face-to-face, then perhaps local Linux user groups and/or Dorkbot groups would be a place to start? I know that the Linux user group here in Bristol attracts all sorts of programming and electronics types, and the discussion is far from limited to Linux! The Arduino and similar small computer projects are usually very welcome. And just about everybody at Dorkbot Bristol has an Arduino, and we're trying to get some workshop sessions set up.
One thing that face-to-face meetings can do is bring together people with Arduinos that need to have the bootloader re-installed, with people who have an AVR in-circuit programmer! I did this a couple of times at the last Dokbot all-day meeting.