I'm with you. We should really build a network of con-going artisans.
It's all well and good to have information about conventions, but we should be able to learn who else is going to cons. For artisans that are in the same area, they can do pre-con meetups.
As people get to know each other better, willing in-towners could offer crash space to out-of-towners or people can arrange to split a hotel room to cut down on cost. There's also "You sell this which goes well with my stuff, how about we just split a table?"