I hear ya. It wasn't in the budget at my job either but I managed to sell Devcon as an inexpensive "course". Really that's what it is.

>It's not in the budget at my job.
>
>>This thread is becoming sort of a tradition for those being left behind... Why aren't you at Devcon?
>>
>>I am not there because at my day job the conference request wasn't approved until 2-3 weeks before the conference start. Impossible to arrange in that short of time. In my new established consulting work in the evenings I just haven't made enough money yet to pay for a conference yet.