As a manager, how do you propose any allocation of resources in your organization? You need to understand two components to make decisions:
Expense (the “investment”)
Return on Investment
This page provides some easy-to-use tools to help you calculate the investment and identify your return.
Conference expenses are affected by a number of factors. Before you can even begin to justify conference expenses, you need to calculate what those expenses are. To do so, use the following Expenses Worksheet to develop a cost estimate for attending your selected conference.
|
Expense |
Guideline |
Cost |
|
Conference Registration |
Register by Feb 15th at early bird rates for greatest savings! Remember too, every 3rd-10th registrant from same organizations saves an additional $100! |
$ |
|
Pre-Conference Programs or Conference Enhancement Workshops, if applicable |
usually optional |
$ |
|
Materials Fees (if any) |
books? software? media? |
$ |
|
Flight |
try a Web travel service to get a quick estimate or take advantage of IPMI’s negotiated discounts with Delta airlines |
$ |
|
Lodging |
conferences usually have special rates with hotel |
$ |
|
Transportation: Airport to Hotel |
if flying: taxi? car rental? attendee incentives or discounts? (check out our Hotel & Travel page for Ground Transportation discounts) |
$ |
|
Transportation: Hotel to Airport |
if flying: taxi? car rental? attendee incentives or discounts? (check out our Hotel & Travel page for Ground Transportation discounts) |
$ |
|
Mileage Reimbursement |
driving to conference? To the airport for your flight? Calculate distances, then multiply miles by .54.5 cents/mile (IRS standard for 2018) |
$ |
|
Parking Reimbursement |
at airport for flight departure, or at hotel where conference is located |
$ |
|
Food Per Diem |
see IRS guidelines for conference locale rates. Remember, IPMI does provide some meals & breaks. |
$ |
|
subtotal |
$ |
|
|
total number of employees going |
|
|
|
= total |
$ |
|
Understanding the Benefits
Let’s face it: many benefits from conference attendance are hard to quantify. For example, many experts agree that the top benefit of conference attendance is networking value. Where else can you find so many industry contacts facing the same issues as your organization? Are there solutions you’re not aware of? Although networking is undoubtedly the most important aspect of a conference, it is also the toughest for which to quantify any value.
On the other hand, if an employee came to you and said, “I want you to fund me for $4,000 and I don’t know what it’ll do for you,” then you would likely scoff at the offer…and maybe even mumble a few colorful metaphors about his/her suggestion.
When you propose a conference for approvals, don’t focus on how much you want to go; focus on what you will specifically bring back to the organization as payback for the investment.
Some specific details you’ll need to identify include:
Session content. What sessions have particular relevance to your organization’s work? Specifically identify:
Tools
Technologies
Processes
Vendor contacts. Will the conference showcase vendors with tools you use or are evaluating for potential future use? Is this an opportunity during which you’ll be able to compare competing tools?
Best practices. Benchmarking. Will there be training sessions in areas that will immediately benefit your group?
Training. Will there be workshops designed to teach attendees a special skill and/or help your team overcome current or future challenges?
Quantifying the Benefits
Although you might understand the benefits of the conference that interests you, your manager may not. Therefore, to be most effective in justifying the conference, you need to clearly articulate the connection between your organization’s knowledge requirements and the conference program. DO NOT assume that your manager will be able to automatically make those distinctions.
To support this process, use the following Benefits Worksheet to help you focus on the benefits. Use whatever makes sense for your particular organization and conference, and omit the rest.
Benefits Worksheet
|
Your Organization’s Benefits |
Specific Needs and the Conference Sessions & Training that Meet the Need |
|
Networking Benefits |
This conference will allow [specific team members] to network with other professionals and vendors in the industry. We will be able to take the pulse of what is happening for tools, technologies, and processes, and hear ideas we weren't even aware of. |
|
Teambuilding (if sending a big part of your group) |
This conference will help build our team, providing a forum for team members to discuss tools, technologies, and processes and how we might apply them in our company to improve our information products, workflow, and processes. |
|
Current Tools |
|
|
Future Tools Exploration |
|
|
Current Technologies |
|
|
Future Technologies Exploration |
|
|
Current Processes |
|
|
Future Processes Exploration |
|
|
Vendors With Tools & Technologies You Are Exploring |
|
It’s all in the Selling
After you have identified the specific knowledge benefits, you’ve provided both the expenses and benefits your manager needs to decide the value of your proposition. Salespeople work the same way. They don’t let customers infer the value of what they are selling, they make that leap for them.
Sell your conference proposition!
#IPMI2019
