I was recruited from the companies own conference they held in Australia. 'Cletus' was recruited from his StackOverflow iirc.

General rules: Be friendly, polite and sell the positives of being state-side (larger tech community, more user groups, conferences, etc)

Would Australians in general have strong preferences about parts of the US? It would seem like the "stronger tech community" argument works IFF you're in Silicon Valley, not so much if you're in North Dakota....

Yes. Almost all Australians I know have ended up in New York or Silicon Valley. Some have ended up in minor hubs, e.g. Seattle, Boston, Boulder, etc.

Which locations in Australia are the best to visit for recruiting (specifically for network/infrastructure/security types, not so much mobile apps/social media.)

The big cities: Melbourne and Sydney. You might get some joy from one of the other state capitals (Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, Brisbane), but your best bet would be the big two.

The tech community in Australia, while close knit and growing, has nothing on San Francisco (but honestly, where in the world does?). There is also the lure of other big, well known cities, particularly New York. Australians love to travel, and coming to the US is pretty expensive, so perhaps pitch it as a way of being close to north and south America?

That's why I'm here. I don't plan on returning to Melbourne until I've lived in San Francisco and New York either. It's a hell of an opportunity once you're over here.

Ample supplies of beer, barbies and sheep in the office?