I’ve been in High Point twice a year for the last 5 years, but I don’t see myself making it down this year (or possibly ever again for the Furniture Market). It is certainly on the way out, and most will argue that it has been for years. Vegas is rapidly driving the nails into the coffin. When much of the furniture sold in the US was actually made in NC, the market was more relevant, but that was decades ago.
Its a selling venue, plain and simple. Exhibitors are there to sell furniture, not to show it off to others so much, nor to feel good about design or whatever. The overwhelming majority of people you come into contact with there are either sales reps or buyers (either for retail or interior designers). Very few industrial designers are there, and generally not too many execs that you can make employment/freelance contacts with.
You can see a lot of stuff in the temporary and glass-walled showrooms, but a buyer’s pass is what you’ll need to actually set foot into most. Pictures are prohibited, although without flash you might be able to get some quick snap shots before security is called (unless of course you ask permission, but without a buyer’s pass…). A student pass works pretty well, too, if you have any connections to get one, but don’t expect anyone to pay much attention to you.
If you’ve never been, its probably worth the time to go and walk around for a few days. There’s generally some free booze, so its not a total loss. 
If nothing else, you will get a sense of the extreme oversaturation of the industry and why it is largely in a perpetual state of mediocrity (in terms of design and economics).