To help keep the balance, I'll shine some light on some of my favorite things about search conferences:

1. Presenting - It's exciting to be on stage, sharing ideas and being a thought leader. There's an undeniable allure to it, and while I take it as a serious responsibility, I admit that I have a real passion for it, too.
2. Meeting New People - Very smart, talented, entrepreneurial and well-connected folks show up at search conferences - thousands of them.
3. Seeing Old Friends - Since there's at least a half dozen conferences I'm at each year, they're very practically a place to see friends from all over the world that I'd never have the opporuntity to know were it not for the group environment.
4. Expensing Travel - It's a beautiful thing.
5. Expensing Meals - mmm... free food (kind of).
6. Learning New Techniques - Every conference I go to, I come away with tactics I'd never heard of before.
7. Hearing About New Companies - Competitors expose themselves, new potential partners reveal themselves and new ideas you'd never think could work come out at conferences.
8. Search Engine Announcements - I can virtually guarantee that 2 of the 3 major search engines (and probably all 3) will announce big news next week.
9. After-Hours Parties - You'd have a hard time beating the search industry for after-hours get togethers, both public and private.
10. Wearing Yellow Shoes - I never put them on at home.
11. Losing Weight - I almost never eat more than 6-700 calories a day at conferences, so Mystery Guest always loves it when I come back after a week and I've lost those extraneous 5 pounds.
12. Blogging on the Road - it's so much more dynamic and engaging when you get instant feedback and direct access to people.
13. Hotel Mints - That and having your room cleaned for you.
14. Seeing a New City - OK, so downtown San Jose is a bit boring, but I've been to London, China, Munich, Toronto, New York and many more
15. Free Stuff - SWAG may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I always try to bring back something for my coworkers who couldn't attend.
16. Drama - WHen it's on stage, it's terrific to see two sides attack and defend - I think that's when the most specific and relevant tips are exposed.
17. Nametags - Since I suck at remembering names, I love seeing nametags around people's necks.
18. Black Hats - They rarely come out online (at least in the places where I hang out), but they're all over the conference world.
19. Burying the Hatchet - If you've had an online disagreement, chances are that 5 minutes in person will smooth it over.
20. New Research - Someone always comes out with some new research showing click fraud is X% or Google is susceptible to this kind of spam or Yahoo! local contains 80% businesses started by ex-Microsoftees, etc.
21. An Official Party Coordinator - Oh, wait...
22. Drinking - Responsibly, of course.
23. Wrestling - With which parties to attend, I mean. Not this kind.
24. Comics - from Boowrecka, yeah :)
25. New Tools - from SEOmoz (oh wait, was I supposed to keep that secret?)

OK - Your job is to fill up the other 25 in the comments...