>>Sorry but this conference is a creditable action by these three who took over when the last remaining US VFP conference was about to end. They kept it going until now. There is no victim.
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>I do not see where I can obtain the conference materials from 2012, 2011, 2010, etc. I wasn't there. Didn't even know it existed. And today when I find out about these amazing speakers, these amazing subjects, these materials that I could benefit from obtaining, I cannot share in any of the presentations, or even the presentation materials from the conference (at least not without searching down the individual speakers and contacting the to see if they have it somewhere -- something that is not a guarantee) because I wasn't there.
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>And then there are items like the free software production ($349 value) given to attendees. I cannot partake of that software. I wasn't there. And neither can anyone else who wasn't there. It winds up being a loss for all who weren't there. It is/was only gain for the people who attended.
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>There are definitely victims.

What "victims?" I do not see any victim here. Organizations often make their presentations and white papers from conferences available in digital format for a fee that is completely separate from the conference itself. It is generally much less because you miss the entire interaction and opportunity to ask questions and pursue the material further in person.

The cost of attending the conference includes benefits that those who do not pay to attend cannot reasonably expect to get for no cost. It would make sense to offer the materials to those who could not attend, but not for free. It is reasonable to expect there to be a cost involved for those materials.