For me it's a time to get away, from all the day to day things that come between my sewing and me. I have two friends that also quilt (one longer and one about the same amount of time as me), we use it as a time to take a girls weekend and make it a road trip. When we had kids at home (I was a widow and the other two divorced), we would load the kids into the SUV and off we would go. We found it uplifting to spend time with people who enjoyed the same things. We also (making it a road trip), could stop and find new quilt shops. We also found a general store across the state, that still sold fabric upstairs (it was great and we have stopped a number of times over the years).
You don't have to buy from all the vendors, but you might find some great deals along the way.
My daughter is an adult now with a daughter of her own. But one of the BEST deals I found in my travels, was a special bonding time with my daughter (we still talk about the quilting trips and the fun we had). My daughter is talking about wanting to take a "Quilting Road Trip", but this time taking my granddaughter along. Oh!! I forgot, my daughter still doesn't quilt or sew. But she loved the trips and the quilts, so now she wants us to do this with her daughter.
So you might find things that will WOW you long after the show!
Go and see what you can find. Have fun