I went the year before last.

Unless you're particularly interested in any of the seminars then, of course, there isn't really a lot that you couldn't strictly see online or by calling the various companies.

However, I found it valuable to actually see the real stuff and meet & talk to the real people ("Networking" is, of course, the buzzword).

I didn't suffer from any hard-sell; there's the usual freebie gimmicks and "free prize draws" (bring a stack of business cards), and some stands had "special offers" on devkits, etc - though, again, if you're serious you should be able to get a good deal with your distributor over the phone...

So there's my 2p, anyhow!