Just exhibiting at a major tradeshow in your industry can be important to your progress and success.  It's easier to set up meetings with a lot of people that you want to meet  (customers, partners and other big friends!), and if you're NOT there, those same people with whom you're trying to establish credibility wonder if you're not as smart as you think you are.  Of course, you can't (or shouldn't) afford to spend $50k on the space for a huge booth - and then much more than that on a huge booth to put on that space! 

As a startup, you'll be in the "emerging" companies - although many smart tradeshows are doing a better job at creating cool "themed" sections.  For DoBox this included the Digital Living  Room at CES, which was definitely cooler than the "tiny companies who can't afford a real booth" zone.   Looks for these, they may be a little more $$ up front, but they draw traffic which is interested in your "space".  

Tips for a successful Tradeshow experience

• In Vegas, don't stay on the strip, pick a nice quiet suite hotel and rent a couple of Vans for your team and pay for parking - the quiet and rest will be worth it
• Occasionally the Luxor or other "southern" strip hotels are often on the show routes for the buses and can be more quiet and removed from the chaos of the central part of the strip - if you can get a good price!
• Take your team out to at least one nice dinner while on the road at big tradeshows - it's a little money and it speaks volumes
• Don't ask you team to do what you're not willing to do
• Have backups to your backups because things will go wrong!
• Use Roll up signs (heavy plastic that will still roll up) and foldable easels for VC beauty pageants and tradeshows - they pack smaller and saves on paying for help at the high end hotels and for union help at tradeshows
• Always bring your own "gaffer's tape" (this is what they use in theaters - check theater supply stores) - get it color coded to your marketing color scheme, it can save your bacon and it does NOT leave a sticky residue.  
• At most big tradeshow venues, you can bring in anything that is in a "wheeled luggage" or that you can carry, but NOT on a dolly.
• Bring your own extension cords and power strips
• Go to a florist or home improvement store and buy your own plants instead of paying tradeshow prices (plants and flowers do make things look more grownup).  You can bring your own florist containers from home if needed.
• Make sure you bring your own (rollup) Logo/Name sign for the back of your booth, especially if it's an 8" or 10" booth - typically you end up with "bad" tradeshow curtains and a black and white "name" as your ID - so spend a bit and get a big sign (5' or 6' across) with your name and logo - if it's a roll up sign, you can use it again and again.  DON'T get one mounted on foam core - they get dinged in about 5 minutes and look terrible
• Bring lots of business cards - remember that Kinkos will color laser print them and then cut them to business card size on nice cardstock - they are "cut" so they look like real cards, but they're cheap and can be done in quantities of a few hundreds for a very low cost.
• Have a flyer done on glossy, heavy paper - sometimes it's worth the cost of offset printing, but look for high quality digital print shops who can do smaller runs, but look great. DON'T laser print something on regular paper.  Also, DON'T illegally copy copyrighted material (such as an article). 
  
• If you are playing music, showing a video or displaying a picture at a Tradeshow, (say to demonstrate the capabilities of a device or system) remember that for copyright purposes, it may be considered a "public performance" and there are special copyright rules for that.
• Schedule meetings in advance at your booth - start scheduling well in advance, and give your guests a nice "window" as it's hard to navigate a tradewhos
• Be sure to combine savvy PR and announcements with your tradeshow activities
• Be sure and spend time to scout the show floor and see "what's hot" in the industry
• Plan to have at least 2 team members in a small booth at all times, and you should plan to have at least 4 team members at the show - people to meet, people to scout, people to work the booth, and enough talent so everyone gets to grab a quick lunch!