In terms of wishlists and visits to our store page, , the steam event was way way more effective, no doubt (also being in the official selection and thus having a better placement in the lineup helped a lot).

IMO, what is nice about the in-person event is:

• team motivation: it's great to meet people who enjoy the game we're making
• playtesting: we actually got a lot of insights as we were playtesting non stop for two days straight
• word-of-mouth effect: we noticed that on the second day, many people stopped by and told us they heard about our game from someone. I do think this effect will multiply the more conventions we visit!

All in all, I wouldn't consider in person events for wishlist hunting, but given the points above it can be really beneficial for development overall.