A case going to conference is automatic if a justice denies the original application and the applicant reapplies to a second justice.
From the supreme court website>>>>>>
If a Justice acts alone to deny an application, a petitioner may reapply to any other Justice of his or her choice, and theoretically can continue until
a majority of the Court has denied the application.
In practice, applications usually are referred
to the full Court by the second Justice to avoid such a prolonged procedure
A case being referred to conference does not indicat a case either does or does not have merit, it simply means a case has been submitted to two different justices
Link:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/reportersguide.pdf