[heinrichhartman]

Regular speaker here (who is also on the list).

I was never payed for a talk, and I have very rarely heared of people being payed by the conference itself -- appart from some "rock-star" keynotes.

Generally talks are sponsored by the person you currently work for - i.e. they pay for travel, and sponsor your time. If you work for a vendor in the space, this runs under marketing expense. If you work for a "regular" company this runs under personal development, employer branding & industry exchange.