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Subject:Conferences, cash and confusion From:Matthew Stern <MAStern -at- PLATSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 Mar 1999 08:58:48 -0800
Adam Roberts wrote:
>I'm interested in going to the Online help conference '99 in London, but
>after receiving the brochure this morning, I don't see how this would be
>possible. Can I expect my company, a reasonably small start up, to pay
>£650($1000+/-) to send me to a two day conference? Of course on top of this
>they would then have to pay transport and accommodation which would add up
>to a sum I'd be very reluctant to propose to them. How would I be able to
>justify such expenditure on their part? Would they really see a difference
>in the knowledge and capabilities of their only technical writer?
Here are a few things that might help you put together a justification for
going to the conference:
* What skills do you expect to learn there and how would they apply to the
work you are doing? For example, if your company plans to implement
HTML-based help, you can see which presentations at the conference would
apply to that project.
* What alternatives do you have to going to that conference? Are there other
conferences that are closer to you or cost less that would have the same
information? Training courses you can go to? Books or publications you can
study?
* What are the costs of you *not* getting the information or training? Would
it take longer to develop the project? Would it cause you to get tools or
implement technologies that wind up being dead ends?
* What potential issues or objections would your management have? Are they
tight on controlling costs right now? Would they see sending you to a
conference as an unnecessary perk?
If you put together a good business case for going to the conference and
anticipate management's questions, they might at least consider sending you
to a future conference, if not the one in London. Good luck.
=============================================
Matthew Stern
Sr. Technical Writer
Platinum Software Corporation
mastern -at- platsoft -dot- com http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/5544/
"Mommy made a very big mistake."
--Monica S. Lewinsky
The opinions expressed here are solely my
own (if anyone else would want them).
=============================================
