For me is an opportunity to see friends, and have fun talking about everything we've been through racing together and trash talking, on an environment where the pressure is off and I don't need to split my time between that and getting the bike sorted for the next race. At least this is my expectation because I wanted to go last year, and couldn't, so this is going to be my first time attending it.
And yes, if I can come home with some hardware as souvenirs too, it certainly makes it even better! But the awards are "a" reason, not "the" reason .