All quite right but IMHO if you want to work or contribute more in Bitcoin ecosystem these meetup(just one per year) and more often smaller free meetup(see satoshispritz in Italy) are a good way to see each other in person, make arrangements, get to know each other and maybe do new business. Surely if the price is $200 or $300 it is out of scale. If it is maximum 100 I would say acceptable for 1 or 2 per year