Justifying Your Attendance at the 2010 NACUMS Conference
In today’s current economic climate, colleges and universities across the country are reducing travel and training budgets and much discussion is focused on the value of attending conference programs. Research continues to show that attending conference programs is the most cost effective method of obtaining industry-specific knowledge, gaining insight into best practices, gathering information on cost reduction and revenue generation and establishing a professional network. NACUMS delivers industry leaders that know and understand the mail and shipping industry. You have the opportunity to learn from the best in the business!
It’s not always easy justifying attendance at a conference, especially when budgets are tight. We’ve put together some ideas and key points to assist you in justifying your attendance at the 2010 NACUMS Conference. We’ve even put together a sample justification letter you can modify to fit your needs and present to your manager.
Steps for Justifying Your Attendance at the 2010 NACUMS Conference
- Be prepared and know the facts.
- Determine the total cost to attend - registration, hotel, airfare, ground transportation and meals.
- Study the agenda - know what sessions will be of benefit to you and your operation
- Be prepared to explain what you expect to get out of the con conference and more importantly, how that will benefit your institution. Be able to demonstrate what aspects of your operation will improve from your new-found knowledge, such as improvements in productivity, increased revenues or another quantifiable result.
- Align your institution’s goals with the conference program
- Once you know the facts, send a formal letter of request to your manager. Then schedule a follow up meeting to discuss your request in person.
- Follow up after the conference. After all, you want to be able to pave the way to attend future training!
- Take your new knowledge back to the office and hold a training session for your co-workers.
- Create a report for your manager of ideas gathered at the conference and a plan for implementing them.
- Create comparisons of products or services you learned of at the exhibit hall and show how they will decrease expenses or improve efficiencies.
Items to Consider for Justifying Attendance
Why Attend the 2010 NACUMS Conference
Conference Programming Benefits:
- Learn how to successfully implement best practices from industry experts
- Discover new ideas for generating revenue
- Get answers and solutions to issues facing your operation
- Learn about emerging technologies and upcoming mail and shipping regulations
- Create and expand your professional network
- Achieve Certificates of Completion
Exhibit Hall Benefits:
- Visit multiple vendors in one location
- Seek solutions through quality discussions with vendors
- Learn about new products and technologies
- Do comparison shopping for products and services
Purpose of Attendance
To justify the cost, evaluate the purpose of your attendance. Make a list of the things you would like to accomplish:
- Is there a current issue at your college or university that you are looking for a solution to?
- Can you find one idea that will increase revenue and/or decrease costs?
- What developments are happening at the U.S. Postal Service that will impact your operation?
- Are there any emerging technologies you feel would benefit your institution?
- Would you benefit from expanding your personal and professional network?
Presenting to Your Manager
The first and foremost communication should be a formal letter directed to your manager requesting attendance and why. A sample letter requesting attendance with talking points will assist you in making the case to attend. Schedule a follow-up meeting with your boss to discuss the request.
Focus on the issues relevant to your institution.
- The NACUMS Conference is the only conference designed specifically to address the needs of college and university mail operations
- I am going to look for a solution for “this” problem
- I believe information about “this’ is beneficial to our institution and I would like to learn more about it
- The educational training and experience is excellent.
- I am going to look for some revenue opportunities for our operation as well as ideas on how to reduce costs in “these” areas
- I am going to talk with several companies about “this” technology we are looking at.
Download Sample
Letter
