... versa.
I can't list all the ways in which this *wasn't* necessary, but I do think the puzzle table tradition stands out.
Last year in Prague, the organisers put up a table with a puzzle, which stood around unnoticed for a few days. At some point I asked what that was about, and was told it was an experiment, to see whether people liked working on it together. That led to me becoming one of the first #IETF puzzlers.
It also was where I met someone whose company I joined half a year...