Not really. I think you hit it on the head as there is actually no contact on HN except replies. I know a couple of handles that I either really like or don't, but have no personal knowledge of them. I do admit that I've never been able to go to one of the meetups people have done.

The only person I know I have met was really secondary to HN. I met Bryan Cantrill (bcantrill) at Systems We Love in Minnesota. I sent him a t-shirt from the college I worked at.