I went to a retreat this summer with some of those same distractions esp cell phone use. I couldn't move and was stuck. I was getting pretty snarly by about the fifth call in several hours. Why come if you can't leave your life behind for a day or two!
My worst experience has been new quilters who can't figure out their machine. At one class I finally said I wasn't feeling well, packed up and went home. There was no point being there when all I was doing was showing my neighbor how to thread, wind, stitch etc. If the teacher had not almost ignored her repeated machine problems there would not have been any instruction at all.