Sounds great guys! I'll be there (cause myself and the rest of the GWAPA board are helping to organize it with PVAS and CCA!)
We're definitely looking for big things from Jason Baliban's talk (no pressure Jason!) Plus, we're working on some creative ways to make the Aquascaping demonstration a lot of fun.
From the fish side, both the speakers and attendees are top-notch. The fish show will contain fauna from individuals who placed or won best-in-show at recent ACA conventions.
Fish show info here:
http://aquafest2009.org/fishshow.htm
And as mentioned, the auction is huge. Two years ago (this is a bi-yearly convention), I believe the auction went from 10:00am to 8:00pm due to the number of items. Everything from driftwood to plants to discus to rare ancistrus to filters and tanks were sold. So yes, bring your plants. Auction info is here:
http://aquafest2009.org/auction.htm