[endorphone]

This sentiment has been stated multiple times now, and seems to be discussing a different type of meetup. There are meetups that are simply a social event/mixer where everyone puts on a nametag, impromptu discussions happen, etc. That is about networking.

Then there are meetups built around a presentation. During the presentation there is little to no socializing. Yes, if there are presentations either you have little regard for your own time, or you should be learning something (usually some high level concepts, new approaches, etc). When a presenter hasn't properly prepared it is simply robbing people of life for nothing.

Ultimately in things like this it's like a website that is "free" but full of ads -- there are often unstated and dishonest motives that corrupt the whole thing. Whether it's the bloviating presenter who is mostly interested in trying to build their own legend, or someone just trying to use the thing as a cheap veneer to pitch some service or product.

[testtuber]

No. They're all networking events. They all use different tactics to get people in the door. In every case, the organizer's goal is to get people to network.

Edit: See jpfr's comment. He organizes the meetups to "build a strong and connected ML community". That sounds like networking to me.

[endorphone]

jpfr's comment is an anecdote and deals with a very small community. It doesn't proves an absolute claim that every organizer's goal is to get people to network, even if a valued side-effect.

Many are built around the core principal of providing interesting enough of content to draw people. Because meeting other people in a given field is ridiculously easy. But if you say "let's all meet at XYZ and socialize", generally the turnout will be abysmal because most people are not there to just to socialize, and actually need some prescribed value to justify their time. So most are built around some premise of providing a value. It's the disconnect between the promise and the actual that causes issue.