I wish that more smokers included fans for convective heating like a pellet grill. My convection fan in my Bradley cut the smoke times down by 1/3 and I get even heating through the entire cabinet. The door thermometer is actually accurate with the fan on 
Just a point of fact. All ovens and outdoor grills, smokers are essentially "convection" - meaning they use hot air to transfer heat. The addition of a fan serves to move that air around...which as Muebe points out, is very helpful.
Hot air does serve to wick away moisture from the meat, one reason folks like to put the CYM and also mop or Texas Crutch is to kinda replace that moisture. Brining pork and poultry helps prevent drying out because it adds more moisture to the meat, thus as the hot air wicks it away it kinda-sorta brings the internal moisture back to original status.
Also - just another FYI - the science behind infrared cooking translates into the heat generating on the surface of the meat, thus no hot air transfer, and less evaporation takes place. The moisture barrier is not "violated"
