The big deal is that Funcom team members are actually taking a part in the event(s) that are scheduled which shows a huge leap foward in how they approach repairing thier relationship with the community.
Social events have almost all been 100% player sponsored since shortly after launch. Social events also bring together all kinds of players and brings population to the game at times where people may not always be playing.
We all do T1-T4/K6/Minis all day, this is the first social event in 4 years. Who cares about rewards? lol