Talks and meetups are cancer. They're perpetuated by those that think the Internet should be like IRL. It's always the brogrammers and SJWs. That's why things like this happen. How can they not even talk about programming without PC culture getting in the way? Because they're idiots!
Why do programmers need to have meetings? Programmers don't do things like that. Why do you need to travel just to give a presentation? You can do it over the Internet and it would be a lot better that way. Some people even get plane tickets to do that. It makes no sense. I wouldn't expect this from technologically literate people. Although, as I said, it's not those types that participate in this meetings.
It's the same logic that goes into the scam known as college. Studying something in an ivory tower in a course with a "professor" is supposed to be superior to studying the same subject with the same material in your own environment at your own pace with a mentor that you know. Somehow people are addicted to the notion of seeing each other IRL, thinking that it's making them smarter or something. There's a sense of ego to it. It's not enough to work, you have to be "in", like all the cool kids. You need to be able to say that you didn't do it the easy way. You went and brought yourself to a meeting and got to see all of your favorite appers in person. You maybe even got to *speak* with them. As if nobody has ever communicated over the Internet before. Like you need to visit each other IRL to discuss the Internet and communication software. The irony is baffling and normalfags are so annoying.
It's a cult like persona. It's all about "being in" and being surrounded by people with certain political philosophies to commit nepotism with. They need crybabies to take advantage of. That's why there's so much politics and drama involved with these things. They want control over people. It's much easier to control people IRL than over the Internet. They need to degrade each other and appeal to each others ego. They need to commit the brainwashing and to cull out the ones they don't like. They need the kind of rules and social queues that aren't feasible on the Internet. It's a watering hole for over-socialized liberals.