I agree with Michelle and Angelina, we can help each other at a local level a great deal, and these local connections have been invaluable to me. However as a local group we can only "self teach" ourselves to a certain limited level. We can benefit from selectively picked "circuit" speakers to show us the 30k foot view.

Given a choice, I would prefer circuit speakers who come from the WordPress organization, or do product demos that show how a product actually works, (rather than telling me what I can already see on their website) or a WP advanced user sharing how they achieved great results in a unique way.