If I could just make it to one trade show this year, which one should I aim for? Las Vegas or east of the Rockies would probably be the most cost and time efficient.

I'd like to handle basic dv equipment and accessories or see it demonstrated and possibly get a bit of training with post-production software.

No doubt about it, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is the mother of all trade shows in this industry. There's still time to book your flights and get a hotel. A bunch of us DV Info Net folks will be there.

http://www.nabshow.com/

Thanks Chris. That's what I suspected. I don't know if I'll be able to get it together for NAB next month. What's another show this year that would be worth the effort?

Then try DV Expo West in Los Angeles, third week in November:

http://www.dvexpo.com/

A bunch of us will be there too!

DV Expo used to run East Coast events too, but I don't see any info on that right now.

Another interesting event coming up is the SIGGRAPH conference in Boston at the end of July:
http://www.siggraph.org/s2006/

This is more directed to high-end post production and visual effects, but there is certainly some overlap with general video industry interests.

Nick and Chris:

Thanks for those additional show links and recommendations.

Of course the NAB show has the built in allure of giving us advantage players the opportunity to pay for our trips at the tables... really a double-edged sword for some, I imagine. [BTW I'm sure everyone here knows to stay away from the 6:5 BJ tables.]