In addition to tech, you need a plan. I looked over my plan from 2004, and it's still mostly true, so I'll just update with these little revisions here:
Daily Plan #1: Arrive at convention center early, park underneath ($8). Parking at the Convention Center means you can dump the quickly accumulating (and heavy) stack of books and schwag. An alternative is to reserve a hotel adjacent to the convention center about 4 months in advance. Update: it's getting harder and harder to park at the Convention Center. We're actually planning on taking a taxi in. Not as convenient, but saves us from having to implements Plan B if we discover there's no parking. Last year we actually had a hotel nearby, which worked out great as well.
Hotels, taxis: A $20 taxi can get you pretty far in San Diego. You may want to consider this when looking at a $300 hotel versus a $200 hotel.
