Having hosted over 100 meetups, and attended plenty others, it depends on various factors, not the least of which the "image" of the meetup to newcomers and how those people find it. Some meetups make a concerted effort to establish their bitcoin only credentials, I very deliberately maintain an open door policy, but I strictly oppose shilling. Regardless, I've run into shitcoiners at obviously bitcoin maxi meetups, and certainly at my own. I have the benefit of living in the Miami area, which has both lots of people in the area and lots of tourists constantly streaming through. In two years of weekly meetups I still meet new local bitcoiners, and I get to meet plenty of foreign or out-of-state bitcoiners here on vacation. Were I somewhere with fewer people and less tourism, I would expect less variety of participants. To conclude a quickly hashed argument, I find most people friendlier and more nuanced in person than on instant-pleasure social media.

People mostly talk about random stuff. It always interesting to hear what brings people to the monetary fringes. I prefer the technical meetups so people with discuss more protocol/craft/product stuff.

You’ll actually have an easier time being a bitcoin moderate/skeptic at a bitcoin meetup than you will online - as with most things.