Professionals and Amateurs

Someone once said that it was amateurs who built the ark, but it was professionals who built the Titanic. It is interesting to note that some of the greatest fantasy authors of recent decades did not attend or study writer's conferences, writer's workshops, etc. J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Christopher Paolini, J.K. Rowling, and to the best of my knowledge Stephenie Meyers, did not spend a great deal of time or money attending such events (Please note, I am not saying I approve of all these writers, I am merely holding them up as examples of people who's writings have done well in the last few years). I am not saying that such conferences are worthless, they just seem to be a tad over rated.