I would argue that "hype", or as you say "showmanship", is actually damaging when it comes to science. Maybe it's just me, but I try to stay away from pop-science news sites because of all the hype they're filled with. As others have said, I like scientific conferences to provide the evidence, that is enough for me. As for the "early in the morning", as I already said, is a consequence of trying to make it possible for as many people as possible to follow the conference, I don't think anyone would be against another conference in the evening for american viewers. There were 5 "locales": Brussels, Santiago, Taipei, Tokyo, Washington. Unless I missed something, I still disagree with you.