Your comment is appreciated, however such conferences often provide case studies which helps to put the situation / content into perspective. Much of the research is done by the presenter who is usually well-versed with the subject matter, resulting in attendees being provided with more practical information which would be beneficial when used in conjunction with research done on the Internet.

yes, there seem to be hundreds of conferences happening and most about topics you think are done to death and all cost money, but think of it this way; a conference includes networking with topically related individuals, skilled/experienced information transfer, pre & post followup & access to material, and the un-missable opportunity of speaking with folks who most of the time, know what they're doing in their respective fields. All of this costs the conference host money, and lots of it. that is also only what you see on the surface. The food, venue, AV, web-time, admin time, etc etc etc ALSO cost money and without all of this in the background, there would not be a conference in the first place.
Some organisers, yes, are greedy and charge way more than they should. But think about it... they wouldn't if folks hadn't already shown willing by buying their ticket. I'm one of the folks who service conferences and am often caught between the rock and the hard place - organiser charges a mint, but squeezes the downline to boost their margins. My suggestion is this - if you dont value the one-on-one of a meeting, do video / web conferencing. If the organiser want to make you fork for 3 days when you are only interested in one, DONT GO AT ALL. But, before you cry that it's a ripoff, think about those folks who are really being ripped off.