Thanks for including XNations in your rounds, JFK.
Interesting comment regarding attendance. It's something I had also suspected was happening, especially with the "bigger" shows. I'm also reading that at the bigger shows like Internext and XBiz that there are practically no affiliates attending. It seems that travel to and registration for these events aren't justifiable in their own budgets anymore, so what we're seeing are mainly content producers, program owners, and their staff as the main attendees of the bigger shows.
I can attest that there are many traffic driving affiliates that go to the small to medium sized gatherings such as Cybernetexpo and Qwebec Expo. Shows that I have recently attended.
As someone who is "just another marketing rep" looking for affiliates with traffic to send my program, I would like to ask the organizers of the big shows a question. What are you doing to attract regular webmasters back to your shows? Because without them, I see less reasons to attend.