Sounds like you've never been to one. They are invaluable in the learning you get and the networking you do. You've posted here in the past about looking for work. Making connections at user groups is one of the best ways to get work. There is lots of learning you can't get from reading postings. I've given user group presentations where the example code, for some reason, didn't work right and I started to debug it. Attendees told me they got more from watching me debug than they did from the prepared topic. You never know what tip or trick you'll pick up.

>Why do people go to these things? Seems I can get more information just doing a Google search for white papers. Are there really good cookies or a keg or something?