Many travel budgets and training budgets have been slashed, and some associations are experiencing severe financial problems. Which means that regardless of the merits of a conference, you’ll probably need to justify the expense. So here are some things you might want to consider:

• Focus on what you will specifically bring back to the organization as return for the investment.
• Offer to prepare and deliver a short presentation and Q&A to your colleagues to share what you learned. That way others in your unit will get the benefits of your attendance, too.
• Share the syllabus and speaker handouts with your colleagues. As an attendee, you have unlimited access to materials posted by speakers.
• If you are working to obtain or maintain your CAE designation, remind your supervisor that this is a great way to earn up to18 CAE hours and is less expensive than registering for separate conferences. It also requires less time away from the office.
• Be ready with a plan that shows who will cover for you while you are attending the conference.
• Offer to share a room to reduce hotel expenses by finding a roommate on the Share a Room group in the Members’ Directory.
• Be sure to check out the registration page where all the various rates are listed to see if you qualify for any of the lower rates or discounts.

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