Many are new attendees who'll show up a time or two before they disappear.  

The fees our members pay helps to cover things like maintains our website, room rental ( we have about 80 - 100 attendees each month) etc.our speakers aren't there to pitch anything or up sell to a more informational class.

The weekly show is available for past attendees to get any questions answered.  

@J Scott has only spoken there once but he has been a regular attendee since he moved here.Thus far virtually all my deal are in Baltimore City.From some of the meetups I've been to, it seems you have to be careful what county and area you are purchasing in Maryland.I disagree.

The seminar instructors advise attendees that they can place a property in contract or an option to purchase, at which time the attendee can then market and re-sell the property for a pro?

Here's another idea to gauge your timing on securing listings/buyers:If you attend a local REIA meeting, you could survey the crowd about how many agents attend their meetings and/or how many attendees are agents themselves.

The speaker was VERY convincing, and managed to sign quite a large percentage of the attendees up to a 3-day real estate course for about $2,500; (I forget exactly how much as many discounts and what have you came into effect the more stuff you signed up for!)

What are the rules for new attendees?

Once you have a small group of regulars who know each other, it might be easier to get more formal, educational-type meetings going and attract more attendees.

I'd say about 50% of the attendees are newbie lookie-lous who never come back to another meeting.