I met several good people at this show, and I think that these smaller shows do a decent job of WEEDing out the bullshit. like you say, going to shows is not cheap, and if it is done solely as an entertainment pourpous and that is the only desired goal . then by attending these shows you are wasting time and money
(both yours, and the sponsors, and the person whom you may be talking with that is there to do some biz)
with that said, I agree that shows do have some people there that could care less about doing any business at all. they are just there for the free booze, and hoping to see some upskirts, that they can take pics of to make them selves look bigger than they really are. Hoewever most of these people are discovered in time anyway.