Is Networking just a business for a few?

With so many new network 'clubs' springing up across the country/world - are they bringing benefit to those companies paying a fee as well as for the event? In fact , are there too many network 'clubs' around that some companies fail to see that there are spending too much time networking face to face when they could be working more effectively within social networks such as Twitter, Blogs and traditional telemarketing activites as well as getting clients to their e-commerce sites?