TV is paid on viewership numbers. Newspapers are paid on circulation. Gliding past ads on a site is factored into the CPM values. Books in a library are paid for and covered by the first-sale doctrine.
You don't think people who change channels to avoid ads/who use DVRs is factored into the price per viewer for TV ads?
Your individual impact might be harder to track than with ad-blockers, but on the aggregate you are driving down the price per viewer by switching on channels during ads, using DVR, etc.
(Imagine a world where 100% of people used a DVR and skipped ads. Obviously the price of TV ads would plummet. By using a DVR you are contributing to making our world, that world).
So if I had the free time, I would consider attending in order to ask pointed questions and warn other people away.
I think we're at a very Napster moment for content websites.
Additionally you can use things like Patreon or Google Contributor.
Is using fast-forward on your DVR unethical?
Is skimming past the ads in a newspaper or magazine unethical?
Is it ethical to let your eyes glide past the ads shown in a browser?
Is it ethical to read books from a free library rather than buying the right to read a copy from a store?