Spine Meetings: Are they worth attending

Recently, Orthopedics This Week published an article regarding two Spine Meetings that OTW recommended in attending. Yet, after speaking to many industry professionals, the consensus seems to be that some of THESE MEETINGS ARE GETTING OLD. Meaning: How much really changes clinically on an annual basis, and are these forums nothing more than a platform for an "old boys" club. Let's be realistic when you look at the surgeon panels and the companies sponsoring these meetings, it's more or less the usual suspects. One industry professional even observed how at last years Motion Preservation Meeting in Duck Key everyone agreed that the only thing that they could agree upon was to disagree when the topic of Dynamic Stabilization was tabled. Why is it that a panel of surgeons cannot agree? Does anyone think that their retrospective data is influenced by whomever these surgeons align themselves with commercially? In addition, how much money does a surgeon lose when attending these meetings only to be told more of the same old same old? Besides, has anyone ever seen a clinician get up and challenge any of these findings. It's almost like the audience was served Kool-Aid instead of a Continental Breakfast prior to the meeting. Spineblogger wants to know what you think.