Results of a Speed Dating Event for Hiring Software Engineers
blog.hirelite.com
blog.hirelite.com
My experience has clearly been different than your own.
I can't speak to whether it's a bigger issue in other industries, but it's a sufficient issue for me personally that I've turned down jobs based on it.
I think this is a great idea (and it seems like this was talked about a before on HN a couple times) IF the actual manager of the position is the one who is attending. If I could meet 20 potential managers in an hour I know there would be a couple that I would really want to work for and a lot more that I wouldn't want to.
I'm not really in favour of applying a speed dating style to job interviewing. This is the third world factory employment model, where there is large oversupply of low skilled workers with near identical skills.