The other problem with these conferences is their size. Most of them are very small. If you only have a few hundred people, the cost of the venue and such isn't divided by a large enough number. This is because these developer conferences are often so specific in their subject matter that the audience is small, and also because of the high price.
I would like to see a convention, not a conference, that is for programmers, period. It should be gigantic like the big geek conventions PAX, Comic-Con, etc. Price could be $50 for three days. Thousands of us would be there. Lots of money to be made selling space to exhibitors. I would go every year.
If only it was a question of fixed costs being divided by the number of participants, but bigger events have new and exciting fee schedules plus enough legal wrangling to make a grown man cry on the street.
You will find yourself on the hook for gigantic sums of money and paying horrifying fees for AV, room rentals, catering, insurance, registration staff, internet access, or to quote Blackadder: "stamp duty, window tax, swamp insurance, hen food, dog biscuits, cow ointment, the expenses are endless."
With some extra space for lightning talks and self organized discussions/BoFs, perhaps. I actually think that would work. I would go too, if only to experience the diversity. I hate it when events get too insular.
I would like to see a convention, not a conference, that is for programmers, period. It should be gigantic like the big geek conventions PAX, Comic-Con, etc. Price could be $50 for three days. Thousands of us would be there. Lots of money to be made selling space to exhibitors. I would go every year.