A lot of meetups I've attended do hands-on sessions which most definitely are useful for learning things. As for presentations, they vary a lot. But inevitably

A lot of meetups I've attended do hands-on sessions which most definitely are useful for learning things. As for presentations, they vary a lot. But inevitably you learn something you weren't previously aware of. If you need to go deep on an emerging technology then you need to stick your headphones on and spend an afternoon absorbed in it.