If sessions are crowded (and I went to the Sunday one on community) that suggests that the panels are a good match for the audience.

After all, if attendees really aren't interested in a panel, there's plenty of other things to do with that time.

Some of the comments in this thread regarding panels feel like the old canard about restaurants: "the food stinks -- and the portions are so small!"

Only in this case, it's "the panels suck, and they're so crowded!"

If the latter is true, that says more about the tastes of the person complaining rather than the panels themselves.