On thePHP.cc blog they share some thoughts about conferences and, more specifically, the way that PHP conferences are handled with respect to speaker compensation.

Attending an IT conference is fun. You get to meet people, listen to interesting presentations, maybe even participate in a workshop where you can expand your skills. Furthermore, there is free food, evening activities including parties, and networking. At the very least, it is a break from doing time in the office.

Each tech community, including PHP, has some well-known speakers that frequently present at conferences around the world. Admittedly, we are among them. How cool must it be to get all this excitement of a conference, and even get paid to do it?

Wait a moment. Nobody said that conference speakers get paid to do their job. And in fact, they are not.

They talk briefly about the history of conferences in the PHP community and how, despite the industry standard being to the contrary, they'll often pay for speaker travel/accommodations. Despite the time taken to prepare a presentation at a PHP conference, (most) speakers do not anticipate being paid for the speaking time itself. The post ends with a discussion about the amount of time they (thePHP.cc) spend around conferences and when they expect that an event would help out speakers with costs involved with the event.