Macworld Expo 2009 Ahead

With just three more weeks to go until San Francisco's Moscone Center opens its doors for Macworld Expo 2009, it is about time to start preparing your visit to the year's most important Mac event. This handful of resources is useful for planning your trip, but they may also come in handy in case you haven't made up your mind about attending yet.

myMacworldexpo -- This is the official Expo companion website by the show's organizers, IDG World Expo, and it lets registered attendants compile their schedule of official MWSF2009 classes and events, hook up with other attendants, and search for exhibitors based on product interests. Once you have registered, you should have received the login credentials via email.

Hess Memorial Macworld Expo SF 2008 Events List -- Ilene Hoffman's Hess Memorial Events List always has been, and still is, the authoritative source for all events beyond the official MWSF itinerary. The list also includes non-public events, but besides the date, time, and place, every item on the list states who is invited, so you can find out whether you'll have a chance to get in, or not. Highly recommended as your first stop for gauging what's going on in the halo of Moscone Center.

Macworld Expo on Yahoo! Upcoming -- Searching for "Macworld" on Yahoo! Upcoming reveals a handful of events, including DailyTechTalk's Pre-Keynote Group meetup at 3:00am (which, by the way, is an hour earlier than last year) on Tuesday at the Apple Store on Stockton street, and a Tweet Up.

Expo Tips for First-Timers If this is your first Macworld Expo, Shawn King's Expo Survival Tips and Even More Expo Survival Tips, as well as Adam Jackson's Macworld Expo First Timer’s Guide provide a wealth of useful information. All three were compiled "for" Macworld Expo 2008, but the general MWSF wisdom they cover is just as valid for the upcoming incarnation of the show.

O'Reilly at Macworld Expo -- Naturally, O'Reilly will be at Macworld Expo 2009, too: at booth #2210, you can listen in on presentations by our authors, buy books with a special show discount, or enter our raffle. To get the low down on what will be up there, check out our booth schedule.

On my Personal Radar -- As in previous years, the annual Netter's Dinner is a Must-Attend entry in my schedule. Of the official Expo events, David Pogue's Macworld Live! should be one of the most entertaining while still being interesting and insightful. And then there's the premier of the movie MacHEADS happening right there at Moscone during MWSF09.

Have you found other useful resources for preparing the January trip to San Francisco? Any events you consider must-attend? Please share them in the comments!