Thanks for your response and experience.
Industry events have a long history. Yes, networking can be valuable but I think that should be a side benefit to these events. If the event is primarily going to be a place for companies to showcase their product and/or service, then the fee to attend should be nominal as the primary beneficiaries are those "presenting". This is the way it has been historically. Generally, there is a stated fee to attend, but there are many ways around the fee, especially through one of those actually paying for the event; The vendors.
This scheme seems to be changing with the drone industry and maybe others that I don't follow. Now, we are seeing the "customers" being asked to fork over larger and larger fees for the opportunity to hear about the latest gear or use-case examples. And of course, the opportunity to "network".
By contrast, there are training opportunities out there where you pay a high fee (sometimes not any higher than the for-mentioned conferences), but you actually get information or training that very well could further your operational development. AND, you get to network with similar minded and positioned folks as a side benefit.
I just think that we, as a group, should push back and be critical when attempts are made to separate us from our wallet without clear and objective benefits. Make no mistake, I enjoy hanging out with the new tech and all of you guys as much as the next person. I just don't think that we need to be subsidizing the big players in order to do that. Traveling to, and lodging at a venue, not to mention lost income for some of us while we're away, is costly enough.