Originally Posted by
sbm12
There seems to be some sort of strange obsession with the idea that no one should ever pay for anything or do anything other than read forums to gain knowledge.
(snip)
And if they don't work for you (or if you think they don't) then don't go. Don't pay the trivial fee and don't have the experience. But don't get down on those who are running them, presenting at them or attending them. That's just plain silly.
We FT'ers are cheapskates. Yet we'll pay for Vanilla Reloads to get the miles. FTU is different because the benefit can't be quantified up front. That bothers some people, I guess.
IMHO the benefit for newbies is knowledge. People who know more going on will learn less. There are diminishing returns.
On the other hand the networking benefits exhibit increasing returns. The more you know the more you have to offer your fellow semi-experts. Then you can keep in touch and maybe get a head start on some great deals.