So a general question to all you bastards that go to all these conferences and blog about it and make me feel left out...how do you justify it to the people that pay for it?  I mean, I've given it some thought, and it's a justifiable expense I think.  Networking, tools, even training, all rolled into one trip.  But nobody in the beancounting department ever agrees.  Or they agree in principle but when it comes time to pony up the dough it's not important anymore.  To them.

So...help me out.  I want to get in one or two conferences next year.  Hopefully one of them is VSLive!  How do I accomplish this goal?