Just so you know, I don't ride with a group but I still go to the event rides when I can. You don't have to be in a group to ride the events.
Shoot last year when we went to the Waco Wild West ride, hardly anyone was using the bike lingo. They probably should have been, but most that passed said nothing, and of course the intersections and stuff were blocked for us so we didn't have to worry about that part.
After folks got spread out more, then more folks were yelling out about cars and stuff. I think it just depends on where you go, but the more you go to things like that the more you would normally learn as far as how things go in a group.

If we lived close I would ride with you, but you'd probably have to wait on me, sounds like you'd smoke me. LOL