Maybe the next Mega Do will be a Kilo Do, with travel on an E175. That will preserve the exclusivity of these events as their appeal becomes more selective.
Seriously, it's odd that the Mega Do is having trouble drawing attendees when FT University and similar events are overflowing. It's almost as if the community of interest is changing from road warriors to credit card churners.
You make an excellent point.
To make money at this game you have to be about 'free' anymore. 'Value' and 'road warriors' just don't ring the register.
In any case, the Megado-market does seem to be self-saturated.
Down-sizing seems like a good way to deal with that. It seems to me that they have no problem selling FC; it's the e- seats that aren't moving. Maybe they'd have better luck chartering a premium transcon config aircraft?
Or maybe the shark has simply been jumped. If that's the case, I would put the shark moment at Rimowa.