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I've only been to one seminar as of yet. It was at the Boulder Aikikai last October. This is what I've decided, in general, about them since then.
1. Train with different people. One can train with one's dojo-mates at one's own dojo. Meet up with your dojo mates during breaks if you can and go over what you practiced during the seminar. This gives you a chance to flesh out new things.
2. Be especially cautious (aware) when training with other people. Especially when doing techniques that involve certain ukemi. You aren't necessarily aware of your partner's skill level and thus a poorly executed throw could get you hurt. This goes both ways. (This happened to me on the first day of the above-mentioned seminar. The fault was mutual but a little more awareness on both our parts would probably have spared me a slightly impacted shoulder.)
3. If the instructor's English isn't perfect, don't get caught up on trying to understand every word they're saying, especially if you aren't on the front row. Try and get the gist of it and extrapolate from there.
4. Be aware of the instructor even when he's not demonstrating a technique. This can be somewhat difficult when the instructor is short and the dojo is crowded, but often an instructor will perform another demonstration in the middle of the group's keiko, at which point it is (a) polite and (b) instructional to drop down to seiza and watch.
5. Show up a little early. It'll give you a little more time to familiarize yourself with the new surroundings and as an added bonus, being early means you're not late. Chances are you won't get yelled at if you're a little late, but its always better not to be.
6. Don't be daunted by any insecurities about your skill and don't let anyone daunt you in your attempts to learn.
Six tips is about good enough for now. Gotta leave others some room to relate their advise/anecdotes/experience.
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