I attended BEA a few years ago when it was in Chicago. It was interesting, and I walked my feet off. Not sure if it did me any good, but Harpercollins was nice enough to get me a ticket and I did visit the HC booth, which was huge and spiff.

Interesting to read about this year's event from the POV of a buyer for a small chain of stores. The only "Hey, I know those people!" moment:

"Nice to meet you, we're Small Beer, have a catalogue," says the man at the booth for another wonderfully named outfit.

There can only be one Small Beer, right?