3 Easy Steps to Justify Your Attendance at Events

Industry pros have many opportunities to attend various conferences and industry expos. How do you justify the time and budget of attending an event? The three steps outlined below can help you gain approval for your attendance. 

Step 1: Identify Your Objectives

When an event piques your interest, the first step is simple: Do some browsing to relate your interest in the event to your work and the goals of your business. 

What can the event help you achieve? Will you save time and expenses by meeting multiple peers and vendors face-to-face in one fell swoop? Are you investigating solutions to help your company innovate? Or maybe you seek professional development through educational sessions. Knowing your goals can help you evaluate the value of events and the solutions they provide to help convince you and those to whom you report.

Step 2: Learn More About the Event(s)

All trade shows and conferences provide information on exhibitors, attendees, and educational presentations. For example, knowing who’s attending or exhibiting (or at least the companies that have in the past) can help you demonstrate who your potential partners could be. Regarding education sessions, the information can include presenters and topics, and perhaps summaries, to explain how they can advance your knowledge. 

Step 3: Send a Formal Request

Based on the information you gained in Step Two, create a proposal letter to your supervisor. It should start with the basics: Your interest in the event, the name, location, and dates. Next, break out additional details as explained below, with some helpful hints to simplify the task:

Justify the trade show. Regarding activities on the expo floor, your letter can explain something like: “There are many opportunities to meet leaders from industry-leading companies and get hands-on demonstrations of the cutting-edge technology they’re introducing. You can also add the names of people who may be helpful to a project or companies that could be potential partners for a specific initiative. 

Justify the educational content. Having researched the educational sessions you would like to attend, you can explain, for example: “I will also have the chance to listen in on a variety of education sessions hosted by industry experts who will cover the latest trends and insights in [cite specific topics/sessions].” 

Justify the cost. For many events, show registration — the expo pass — is free, with upgrade options for education sessions and networking opportunities (as is the case for many events held by our parent, Informa Markets Engineering). Here are the main cost-breakdown details to include in your letter:

You can finish writing your proposal by briefly summarizing the value of your attendance, thanking your supervisor for their consideration, and an offer to discuss. Finally, all that’s left to do is proofread your letter — and click send.