What would a world without conferences look like?

What would a world with conferences being seen as natural Shelling points punctuating online discussions look like, with pre-registered forums dedicated to specific questions and at least two weeks allocated for every participant to familiarize herself with current literature? Like, I was chosen to participate, and I spend 14 days just reading up on the topic (and then give a free-to-attend lecture summarizing my understanding.) Possibly on weekends, if my institute does not agree to pay for that fortnight and I want to go badly enough.

And when I come back, I give another lecture on what was discussed.