I highly recommend attending at least one event of this type for any artist who wants to get serious about doing portrait commissions. Even for non-commissioned figurative artists there's a lot to be gained.
I went to one in New York two or three years ago and it was a real eye opener. If you want to know how the business works and get a sense of how things are in the upper echelons, go to one of these.
Here's the info on the PSOA:
http://www.portraitsociety.org/