I haven’t been to one of these things yet.. I’m comin’ soon I tell ya.. but haven’t been yet, but I hear what you’re sayin Dom.. Can’t count how many times I’ve talked a friend about an affi manager that was on my very last dang nerve, and had my friend tell me, ‘wow, he’s a pretty kool guy in person’
It’s to easy to forget that you’re talking to a real person when we type our questions, answers, and concerns all day long. Emails tend to be factual, and not friendly, and noone has personality.
Once you get to know each other, hang out and have a good time… you can’t help but think about who it is your talking to, and eventually, affiliates want to help webmasters, and webmasters want to help affiliates, and when we succeed, everyone is happy for each other 
my 4 cents 
~ LadyH