Hi TPS,
I'm in the same boat here in Birmingham, AL. I found my local Nissan dealer and introduced myself several weeks ago, just to start getting to know them. They had assigned two sales people for the LEAF and we started chatting. They are excited about the car, and were very happy that I came in to say hello, I guess they were wondering when the first people who reserved were going to show up.
I knew that they would not see me on their dashboard until I did the RAQ process. They were barely aware of the reservation process and when I told them I put my $99 reservation down over a year ago they could not believe it. At any rate, we did the RAQ right there on his laptop, at which point I showed up on his dashboard and he was very happy about that.
We had talked about price already -- MSRP, and they were happy to commit to that until the LEAF became more generally available. They were VERY impressed with my knowledge and I made them aware of this forum and suggested they sign up and do some reading. They're keen for me to transfer some of my knowledge to them. By the time my LEAF arrives (hopefully December), I suspect they'll know as much as I will.
My advice: find yourself a dealer that is close to your home, go in there and just get to know them. If you don't "click", go find another dealer. I'm excited about getting my car, and I can't wait. Meanwhile, I'll have to get my LEAF fix by driving their demo every now and again, or flying over to Smyrna and connecting with a bunch of LEAF owners over there...
There's LOTS of good information here in the forum and on the wiki. You'll learn more than you ever need to know about your car, and enjoy it that much more as a result.
Cheers, Bert