It was a busy weekend for many of us here in Washington, DC, what with the debate watching parties, updates on the financial meltdown and bail out plan, and then finally the celebration when the Redskins beat the Cowboys. After all that, I’m excited to dive back into technology this week with a few interesting meetups. Here’s a look at how we’ll be spending our evenings (and one morning) this week. For a full listing of what’s happening in DC, check out DC Tech Events. *Tuesday, September 30*8:30 am – noonInnovative Advocacy: Intelligence, Media Monitoring, and Tracking the Buzz: This workshop will talk about what tools are out there to help you listen in to all the chatter happening online, and then figure out what to make of it. 7:00 – 9:00 pm“Dorkbot DC”:http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotdc/: This is one of the most technical meetups in town and therefore one of the best places to get your true geek on. At this month’s meetup, there will be two presentations – one on the Lightglove Virtual Controller and one on functional programming for hobbyist platform hackers.  If you understood that, that’s a good sign that you should check this one out. 7:00 pm“NetSquared and the Knight Foundation’s News Challenge”:http://netsquared.meetup.com/2/calendar/8762152/: The Knight Foundation gives out several grants for innovative tech projects meant to improve communities and journalism (they’re also big open source fans). On Tuesday, Knight reps will be talking about the News Challenge, it’s application process, and it’s new idea incubating website the Garage. *Wednesday, October 1*6:00 – 8:00 pm“NOVA Drupal Meetup”:http://groups.drupal.org/node/14996: The Drupal events out there just keep growing : ) The Northern Virginia Drupal group has changed locations and formats. It’s now next to a metro stop (thanks from all of us without cars!) and is targeting developers, users, and business folk. This month, there will be presentations on multi-site CMSs and tuning for performance and scalability. *Thursday, October 2*6:30 – 9:00 pm“TECH cocktail DC 3”:http://tech-cocktail-dc-3.eventbrite.com/: It’s time for another one of the huge tech happy hours meant to bring old and new tech folks together, along with the local venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs. These are always fun, and sometimes there’s even free drinks : ) See you out this week!