It’s so fascinating to see how easily a human brain can be hijacked by status. I wonder if there’s a way to harness that power for improving individual performance...
If "improving individual performance" means to you that you perform better at your job, you are already lost.
The effect on parents seems bigger, which is a good thing, I suppose, since parents then give their kids to some positive feedback.
I participated in some of them before due to the visibility. People from your class may know you but others, not so much. In the absence of time and other signals, management would often pick someone who is highlighted to represent something.
A lot of big people at those events generally don't mind giving contact information to young kids asking for help as much.
From there, you can effectively build a nice list of people that you can leverage in future for your resume or career.
It's like free consultation you otherwise would need to buy later.