much of this is to give recognition to people. The [communications department] is working on something incomprehensible, but [Robert Smith] is doing good work that was approved by the higher-ups, so they'd like everyone to know.

Now, imagine that you and upper management agreed to convert all space-indents to tabs - you might be up there getting recognition too. But since management has no opinion on the matter, you aren't.

That's about the significance of most company meetings. Sometimes you can get a sense of the power dynamic by seeing who's there, but most of it is irrelevant.

If there's something that directly affects you, it won't be stated explicitly, but your immediate manager will call another meeting immediately afterward. Then watch out!