The whole point is education, you are free to come for the fun of it, or if you want help deciding if you are the market for a new set. It will be a fun and informative day out.
Some of the criticism on line of the integrity of the shootout in the US is quite frankly disgraceful. All the people involved are honorable people, same here, the flack comes from things differ from someones personal opinion.
One thing is for sure, they coat money to put on and yes the people putting these things on want to benefit from them. No difference with what Value Electronics have done, its all marketing and there's no secret in that. What someone wants to take from of any of them is up to to them.
At the end of the day, all that matters is that you end up happy with your kit at home, whatever make, model or price it is. If it satisfies you, job done.