Thanks for the welcome everyone! For the event, I wasn't sure how mant pins I should bring and what kind-traders? keepers?
I have found that this is subjective and varies from person to person. Some people like to bring/wear 'brag lanyards' or 'brag pins,' (high end/grail level pins that they have no intention of trading that are being displayed for the sole purpose of being worn/displayed/shown off). I personally would NEVER bring a pin that I am not willing to trade for two reasons:
1. Despite the reason mentioned above, I just don't see the point in bringing a pins to a TRADING EVENT and having to tell people that they just aren't for trade. This doesn't mean that I'm going to make every trade offer that comes my way and I have no problem politely declining trades that don't interest me or that I consider unfair; everything I bring is for trade, but both the person I'm trading with and I have to agree that the proposed trade is fair for pins to exchange hands.
2. While it doesn't happen too often, pins do end up lost, missing, or stolen from events. Thankfully, this hasn't happened to me, but I have a hard enough time keeping my eyes on the pins I intend to trade. I have no intention to bring pins extra pins that I have no intention of trading that just need supervision (especially since, while I'd be upset if I lost a few of my traders, I'd be even more upset if I lost any of my keepers).
So as far as how many pins you should bring, I would recommend bringing your regular traders that you bring to a PTN. Also, if you want to set up at a table, bring a few books ... if you want to walk around from table to table, try to condense your traders into one or two books to make moving around easier. Additionally, I would suggest bringing some regular, stick-on-a-lanyard type pins to play the games and, I suspect, to trade with the cast members (most/all of them should be wearing lanyards).