> I'm wondering what others would recommend as the most cost-effective thing to do in the short run to move closer to state of the art

Howie, if you want step-by-step courseware, www.takenote.com sells the same materials they use in their public classes.

Sometimes conference sessions are at too high a level for an OOP novice, so I'd suggest the courseware, The Fundamentals, etc. before you go to a conference - unless of course you just want to meet all of us!