I agree with idea that people still want to get together and interact in the real world, and I still attend many conferences. However, I have started seeing a shift from the large trade shows (CES, etc.) to more nimble niche conferences and community organized unconferences. I find that I get more value out events like BarCamp than I do out of the bigger events.

Big trade shows with exhibit halls were essential before we could find all of the same information online. For me, conferences have become a place where I can have interesting conversations with smart people to delve into the guts of a topic or have a more strategic discussion about the direction of a particular technology. For some reason, unconferences and smaller events seem to lend themselves more easily to those types of discussions.