On the BCNext/CfB issue: we're big boys and girls now.
The NXT community has taken the initial building block that BCNext gave us and built it up (with help from BCNext/CfB) into somethng very much larger, which has taken on a lfe of its own.
We shouldn't need much help from here on out, and remember: No gods, no kings....

Anyhow, back to conferences.

Spoke to the Bitcoinfoundation conference team and booked our 'contributing sponsor' slot (ie stand + 1 person + promotion) for a grand total of € 1500, which is around 40000 NXT right now.
They'll be sending me an invoice in the next couple of days, payment within 2-3 weeks, in fiat or (my preference) BTC.
(I should point here that I'm registered as a business here in NL, so I may be able to get the sales tax refunded on any costs we make in connection with the conference.)

Couple of points: I've stressed that we need a stand with some form of sunlight for the RaspPiSolar, the conference people (who are, so far, totally interested in NXT, btw) think it's a brilliant idea and are going to help as much as possible with stand placement.
Apparently the entire crypto world is going to be attending, this is shaping up to be the biggest BTC conference ever organised (according to the over-worked organisers):

We need some headliners from NXT and we need serious budget. The way things are going with NXT progress, this could be one of the events that will push NXT into the really big time.

We will also need some definitive, high-quality logo designs soon, to pass on to the BTC conference team to be included in their conference promo material.

TL:DR:
Booked stand, need money + speakers + logos.