Maybe, I am thinking of it too much like Balticon (a regional convention of 2,000 people). I cringe at the thought of a $200 registration fee to go.

This puzzles me. You can afford $2000+ for roundtrip airfare and hotel to go to Japan, but you can't afford $200 for membership?

I am mystified by the argument that we should act as a free marketing agency for the airlines, and that people would be happy to spend many hundreds or even thousands of dollars to see a convention where nothing happens.