I agree with everything you said, Bruce, except I disagree completely about where the 'REAL magic" happened. In my opinion, and I assume in the opinions of many of those who did not attend the conference, the real magic didn't happen at all.
I figured that the whole idea of such a conference to meet like-minded people and forge real relationships with them, people don't go to TED or Defcon or even Comic-Con for the media coverage. The press turn up when lots of interesting news is likely to come out of the conference, they won't waste their time turning up to something unproven. If your unrealistic expectations cause you disappointment then try aligning them more closely with reality.