I went to Paducah the year of the flood and they had to move the show (with only a few days notice!) out of the convention center because it was behind the flood wall. Those folks did an absolutely AMAZING job moving the entire show to various places in the city! If they did that good of a job with a few days notice ... I cannot imagine how wonderful the show is when it is in the convention center. I must say though, it was fun going around the city (a small town really) to the various places.
I want to go to Paducah again, but I also want to see the Houston show and the Long Beach show.
I've also attended the IQS show when it was in Chicago - that was a fantastic show. Now it's in Cincinnati so you might consider that one.