1, I have indeed met many people who are enthusiastic about attending conferences. Some are major industry figures (at least in my eyes). 1, given their status, they receive too many invitations, so it would be awkward not to go; 2, a single event may allow them to solve many problems at once, which is one way these major figures consider efficiency when getting things done; another group consists of relatively new people, who may, as Ni Da said, be thinking about becoming familiar faces, expanding their networks, and so on...... 2, personally, I am not interested in attending conferences and have never done so.