The merits of the AAPP Annual Meeting are undeniable. Even so, with most organizations having limited travel and education budgets, it may be necessary to show justification when selling your attendance at AAPP 2023.
For your organization to allocate resources, it is beneficial to quantify the value of attending and show what the return on this investment would be to your employer.
Let’s face it, many benefits from conference attendance are hard to quantify. For example, experts agree that the top benefit of conference attendance is networking value. Where else can you share information with 950+ peers that face the same patient and professional challenges?
When you propose your attendance at AAPP’s Annual Meeting for approval, focus on what you will specifically bring back to the organization as payback for the investment.
Some specific details you’ll need to identify include:
Although you might understand the benefits of the conference that interests you, your manager may not. Therefore, to be most effective in justifying the annual meeting, clearly articulate the connection between your organization’s knowledge requirements and the conference program. Do not assume that your manager will automatically make those distinctions.
To support this process, AAPP has created a Benefits Worksheet to focus on the benefits of attendance and included some tips and sample language. We recommend that you download the worksheet and customize it to showcase the value for your organization. Add and remove info as you see fit! In addition to benefits, expenses need to be calculated. Use the expense worksheet to factor in all aspects related to attending.
Now that you have done all the hard work in quantifying the benefits and expenses associated with attending the Annual Meeting, it is time to put the information into a written request. We can help with that too! Download our sample letter for a good starting point on how to communicate all of these benefits to your supervisor.