Reasons to Attend Professional Conferences (And How to Convince Your Boss to Send You)

Build Knowledge and Skills

Conferences are filled with industry leaders, motivating talks, and insights that provide an abundance of learning opportunities. Conference attendees expand their own personal and professional development while bringing back new knowledge to their business and teammates.

Keep Up With Emerging Industry Trends

Industry standards, resources, and technology are constantly evolving. Conferences bring leaders together to share ideas and emerging trends. Attending a conference will help you keep up with the times as your industry evolves and advances.

Network and Meet Potential Customers

Networking is a pretty big buzzword, but that’s because it works. Engaging with others and meeting new people provides brand new business opportunities. You never know where you’ll meet your next customer, and conferences provide an ideal environment to meet people you might otherwise never connect with.

Connect With Like-Minded Businesses

Conferences bring together like-minded people and businesses. Attending a conference provides opportunities to meet other companies in your industry or community. The potential for collaboration is huge as you get to meet many people and businesses you could partner with or work with. You’ll have a chance to meet vendors and companies you may never have considered working with before getting to know them.

Distance Is No Barrier

Virtual conferences remove any geographical barriers that might prevent you from attending a conference in another city, state, or country. You can attend conferences from anywhere in the world when the materials are streamed online.

Less Expensive

Online conferences cost less to put on, so the registration fees are usually much lower. Plus, you’ll save a good deal of money if you don't need to pay for travel and accommodation. If you know your company’s budgets are limited, choosing an online conference is a good place to start. The costs are significantly less, and if you can demonstrate the value earned after participating in a virtual conference, you may be able to convince your boss to invest in one with travel expenses.

Less Time Away From Work

Less time away from work is certainly an advantage when trying to convince your boss of a conference you want to attend. A virtual conference won’t take you out of the office for a prolonged length of time, giving you more flexibility to complete your regular work tasks.

Social Distancing

Virtual conferences are popping up more and more so that large events can coexist with social distancing guidelines. As large gatherings are restricted, cut back, and canceled, online conferences provide an alternative to large-scale gatherings.

Easier to Convince Your Boss

For all of the reasons above, it may be easier to convince your boss to allow you to attend an online conference rather than one on the other side of the country. Think of an online conference as an agreeable alternative or as a stepping stone on the path to proving the value of investing in conferences.

Keep it Clear and Concise

The person in charge is busy. Your conference proposal should be kept clear and concise so that you don’t use up too much of their precious time. Provide them with the details they need to understand your ask, but don’t overdo it.

Provide specific details on the conference—where it is, what you’re asking for, and clearly explain the benefits for both yourself and the company. If you are submitting your proposal via email, provide conference pages and other associated links.

What’s the most important message you want them to take away? If they only read part of your proposal, what do you want them to come away with? Whatever it is, make sure that message is clear and located at the beginning of your proposal.

Explain the Benefits Of Attending A Work Conference (For You and Your Company)

Outlining the benefits of the conference is the most critical aspect of your proposal. Go beyond surface level reasons to explain why the conference will benefit both yourself and the company you work for. If you will acquire new knowledge or skills, explain how they will help your company and how you can share what you’ve learned with the rest of your team. You need to illustrate the value of the conference and the return on investment for attending.

• What knowledge will you bring back to your company, and how will you share it with your team?
• What new skills will you acquire, and how will these skills help your company?
• What networking opportunities are available, and how will you use the conference to bring in valuable customers or community connections?
• How will your presence at the conference increase company exposure, either on social media or within your industry community?
• Are there opportunities to learn about industry trends that will help your business stay up to date?

Outline Dates and Absences

Include the dates of the conference and outline the time off you will need in order to attend the conference. Don’t forget to account for travel days and any conference preparations you will need to make before or after.

What will happen in your absence? Will anyone need to cover your position while you are away? Can you manage your current workload while taking time off for the conference?

Discuss the Financials and the Conference ROI

Here’s the big one: how much is the conference going to cost? In order to prove a return on investment, your boss needs to know what the investment will be. 

Identify the full cost of the conference, which includes conference fees and all travel expenses. How much will the conference cost when you add in transportation, accommodation, and meals?

Begin with a pleasant greeting explaining what you’re asking for. Ex. “Good Morning, Mrs. Boss. I’m emailing you to share a potential conference opportunity that I think could benefit myself and our company.” 

Put the most important takeaway at the top. If they only remember one piece of your message, what do you want them to remember?

Who, what, where, when—Concisely share the conference details, including the name, date, and location.

Why: Highlight the benefits of the conference. Be specific about the value it will provide both you and the company.

Outline the logistics. How much will the conference cost? What are the costs of traveling to the conference? How many days will you need off work? How will your work be covered, and will someone need to replace you while you are away?

Conclude with your best points. Reiterate the most powerful benefit of attending this conference and thank them for their time and consideration.