The "loophole" is that, for gifts of more than a token amount, it has to be a legitimate business expense--whoever is picking up the bill. Waiving a conference fee and covering some or all of the travel expenses to a conference, would widely be considered legitimate business expenses. Normally these would be picked up by my company these days if I had a business reason to attend an event and I need to pay for registration and travel. But conference organizers routinely waive at least the conference fees for journalists, analysts, speakers, and possibly others they want to attend.