Started using it just over a month ago when my new phone hit the supported list.

Um... missing the most obvious... the Internet :-)

Employers should pay, and should also pay your salary while attending. They are reaping the benefits of what you are learning. I work in a group where we rotate who goes to the conferences and every year it gets harder to go (budgets always get cut). We always come back with tidbits that change the future of what we are doing and where we are going with our technology (conference of choice for us has been SAP TechEd / dCode) Suggestion: do up a budget and get it approved before booking. Keep the approval. When you submit the expenses, submit with a copy of the approval. If they reject it keep pointing back to the approval.