having been to a ton of trade shows i have to say the gaming industry probably has the most fun. here's my report from GDC 2004 San Jose:
i live in san mateo, so i figured i might as well stop by the game developers conference... blizzard was going to be there, and maybe if i impressed them with my amazing social skills and whatnot they'd realize what a great beta tester i would be and give me a key or something. so that was my premise for going to gdc.
unfortunately it costs $150 to $200 for just an expo pass (unless you're a student) so obviously there's no way i'm gonna spend much cash to play xbox in san jose. it's time to get your forgery skills out... i crafted myself a student id from some random college, glued it to the front of my safeway card, and bingo i'm a student.
oh yah i also have this job. take a sick day. i get on my kawasaki and ride down the 101 to the convention center, where parking is imposible. they don't give motorcycles a break, you have to pay the full car price. so i pull around the back and park by an air conditioning vent. hopefully security doesn't have me towed.
enter the conference. i get in line for my badge, adrenalin pumping simply because now it's time to see if my new student id passes the test. guy takes my drivers license and student id, looks at them for a second and *poof* i'm in. sweet. now what to do for the next three hours until the main floor opens...
the doors open and i make a straight line to the blizzard camp. having already checked the map i know exactly where they are. first one up to the booth! make small talk with the guy there... d'oh he's from blizzard north, recruiting for jobs and whatnot. i don't want a job, i want a beta. so i ask him if they're having any raffles or any beta give-aways today and he says, "huh. that would have been a good idea". crap. nope they have no betas here to give away. well can i take a picture of your huge orc? sure: