Conferences are about community, networking, business development, increasing personal status (which explains the meltdowns mentioned in the article), and sometimes just simply getting away from work and being social while enjoying life.
This is why online events really are very much subpar experiences to real-world, in-person gatherings. Online events fill their roles as well, but they tend to be more of the education-oriented stuff that I guess the OP is looking for. In which case, online events are just another form of online content like any other. But they aren't conferences.