Tradeshows:

November 2008
TAGIE, November 20-21, Chicago, Illinois
A 2-day forum for aspiring game and toy inventors featuring industry panels, talks and seminars, and culminating with an Inventor Celebration gala dinner!
ChiTAG, November 22-23, Chicago, Illinois
A 2-day consumer show, following TAGIE (above), where game and toy companies get to show their latest and greatest releases with plenty of additional activities to make this a great family event.
BGG.con, November 23-26, Dalls, Texas
A consumer con that is quickly growing in prominence supported by the amazing BoardGameGeek (BGG) community.

December 2008
none

January 2009
Hong Kong Toy & Game Fair, January 5-8, Hong Kong.
A trade only show which has been growing in significance in the last several years.
UK Toy Fair, January 28-31, London, England
A trade only show is expressly for UK manufacturers of toys, games and hobbies to exhibit their upcoming products for the year.

February 2009
Spielwarenmesse, February 5-10, Nürnberg, Germany
A trade only show which is the largest in the world, I believe. A fantastic intro to all the game and toy manufacturers in Europe.
NY Toy Fair, February 15-18, New York, NY
The preeminent US trade-only show for the specialty and mass markets. If a company sells to these markets, they will be at this show.

March 2009
NSSEA EdExpo, March 5-7, Dallas, Texas
This trade show is a back-to-school extravaganza. I have heard that a good number of game companies have been well-received here.
WTHRA, March 7-10, Pomona, California
For game buyers that do not come out to NY for Toy Fair, this is another option for them on the West Coast. A much smaller, more intimate fair. Often sales reps are manning the booth rather than the actual game companies.

April 2009
GAMA, April 14-17, Bally's, Las Vegas, Nevada
One of the first-of-the-year trade shows for the hobby market. An excellent place to catch up with the folks in this industry to find what the new releases will be for the year.

May 2009
none

June 2009
Licensing International Expo, June 2-4, Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
The world's largest brand and property trade show. Find out what movies are coming out, which books need games, and which licenses will be hot.
Australian Games Expo, June 6-7, Canberra, Australia
Now moving to Canberra to accommodate this growing game show from down under. Plenty of tournaments and awards to make it always entertaining.
Origins, June 24-28, Columbus, Ohio
Another great hobby industry trade event. Also tied to the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design awards (often just referred to as the Origins awards).
TGIF.con, dates tbd, location tbd

July 2009
Protospiel, dates tbd, Okemos, Michigan
Started in 2001 by game designers Stephen Glenn, Dominic Crapuchettes, and Mike Petty, Protospiel is an annual get-together of amateur and established game designers to test and promote nearly-finished game prototypes. The atmosphere is casual, yet everyone is serious about their goals and dreams of publishing games.

Comic-con, July 23-26, San Diego, California
Everything comics. Tons of artists, graphic novels, anime, tv and movie release features and more.