Terry,
I know you asked Ron the question, but I would like to interject our position (Contractor Events).
We firmly believe that you can never be over-educated or networked in your industry. With that said, the availability (or over-calendaring) of these events is important for small companies who for whatever reason, cannot afford to travel distances to attend what could be a very beneficial event.
Contractor Events is developing a "definitions" area that will somewhat breakdown what is a Round Table, what is a Networking Event, a seminar, a course, convention, etc... Hopefully what this will accomplish is that folks will better be able to decide where to spend their time and funds because, let's face it.....no event is completely free. Small companies are essentially closing their business for a day or more to attend and gas to travel is certainly not decreasing in cost. The different levels of events allow all companies at every level of business experience to have something to attend.
Make no mistake, some events will cost more than others and if you find one in your backyard, clearly it can be as close to free as the host elects. It would be unfair to suggest that cost alone is a basis on the quality of the event. There are sponsors out there who will foot the bill allowing the event to be a top notch event for little cost to the attendee (little cost being again, closing business & traveling) On the other side of that, some events will NOT have sponsorship and contractors wishing to make the event will accept the fee involved. I can't think of ANY event where someone has turned a profit!
The time & detail work involved in making these happen can be enormous....which is again, part of the reason that Contractor Events was created.....to help in the planning & execution process, taking some of those stressful hours off of the event host.
Now that I've gotten completely off topic of Terry's question
Back to you Ron.
