The Professional Pricing Society Spring Conference in San Francisco was last week. About 450 pricing people were there. I’ve never been to a Star Trek convention, but I’d guess they’re similar in their aggregation of people who care passionately about something few other people care about.
Especially for people new to the field, the conference was considered a great learning experience. For veterans, conference talks may or may not impart new information, but the informal discussions with other pricing professionals makes the experience worthwhile.