Abu Dhabi Summit on Anti-Corruption - Conference Brochure

American Conference Institute www.AmericanConference.com Conference Rationale Pack build the business case for your attendance at an aci event Understanding motivations: How your manager may make the decision to approve your attendance There are clearly defined benefits to attendance (ROI) » The expense is reasonable » The time out of the office is well spent » Even in difficult economic times, most companies still have a training budget. You’ll need to make the case that the best use of that budget is your attendance. Even if there is “no budget” your manager (or your managers’ manager) will still likely have some discretionary funds they can tap into. In this instance, you may need to convince not only your immediate manager of the benefits of your attendance – but you may also need to help them convince their manager of the reasons why you should attend. They will be looking for you to convince them of several things “From the start of its research through the day of the actual event, ACI is very careful to ensure that every session at this conference solely and clearly focuses on the issue of Prescription Drug Pricing. It would well serve both lawyers and business people alike to attend this worthwhile and excellent event.” Stuart M. Pape, Managing Partner, Patton Boggs LLP In today’s economy, no matter what your seniority, most of us have to justify the cost and time of attending industry events. Often the people you report to do not automatically understand the importance of the benefits received by conference attendees. This document will give you some tools you can use to help build the business case for your attendance at the ACI event of your choosing. At the end, you’ll find a customizable letter that you can tailor and submit to your manager. We hope you find this information useful. Note: If you wish to attend as part of a group – you should coordinate your efforts with your colleagues. Understanding The Benefits That Impress The two main benefits of attending any conference are networking and education. Although networking is a very important benefit, it can be difficult to quantify the value to your organization. Many delegates report that hearing of solutions or approaches to problems while in a networking environment is often the most valuable aspect of a conference – but it’s speculative and hard to measure. So rather than focus on the social aspects of networking, instead focus on specific education, the actionable learning that will directly benefit your organization. The best way to do that is to: Link specific published conference sessions and speakers to address specific challenges you’re facing and link that education to specific actions that you will take that will benefit your organization. Details are vital. Some details you’ll need to identify include: Session content » . Review the conference program and identify the sessions that have particular relevance or resonance to your organization’s current situation. Specifically identify sessions which promise… Examples of successes delivered by speakers from other firms in your category. » Information regarding challenges that your manager / firm is specifically facing. » New technologies and tools that you’re not using or have not fully evaluated. » To help you reduce costs or “do more with less.” » To ensure that you avoid mistakes: Candid sessions will help you avoid repeating costly mistakes made by other » companies. To help you do even more with what you already have. Learn how to maximize the value of your existing initiatives. » Best practices » . Many conference sessions are geared towards benchmarking best practices. Your attendance and report means that your manager can get a clear picture of what the competition is doing. Training » . Which workshops are right for you? All are designed to teach a specific group of delegates a special skill or set of tools and approaches that are immediately actionable back in the office. Quantifying the Benefits Although you might understand the benefits of the sessions, your manager may not. Therefore, to be most effective in justifying the conference, you will need to clearly articulate the connection between your organization’s knowledge and skill requirements and the conference program. Do not presume that your manager will be able to automatically make those distinctions. To support this process, use the following Benefits Worksheet to help you and your manager focus on the benefits. We suggest looking at the Conference Brochure, highlighting sessions that will address your needs, and bringing the brochure, along with this worksheet to your manager for joint decision-making. The following are some examples: Benefits Worksheet Your Organization’s Current Need Specific Conference Programming To Address That Need To keep up to date with changes in the industry To benchmark and learn the latest strategies To learn directly from other firms To generate new business To gain specific technical knowledge To obtain a competitive edge To evaluate new trends Conferences offer tested and proven tools that are easily actionable and have tangible benefit. Justifying The Expense Calculating the Actual Expense Before you can even begin to justify conference expenses, you need to calculate what those expenses are. To do so, you can use the following Expenses Worksheet. Expenses Worksheet Expense Guideline Cost Conference Registration $ Pre and Post-Conference Class Registration, if applicable Optional $ Materials Fees None $ included Flight Try a Web travel service to get a quick estimate $ Lodging $ Transportation: Airport to/from Hotel Taxi? Car Rental? Super Shuttle? $ Food Per Diem $ subtotal $ total number of employees going multiply subtotal by total number of employees going = total $ Time well spent This conference is very hard work Your manager needs to understand that, far from being a pleasant diversion, you will be working as hard during the duration of the conference as you would in the office. Your day will start early with preparation and breakfast before the first session begins at around 8.30am. You’ll be working through lunch and will be hard at it until the conference wraps up at around 5.30pm. No social events take place during conference programming time. Advance preparation and goal setting Identifying what you want from the conference is essential – but also don’t forget to ask what your manager wants from the conference. Request to interview your manager before you attend the conference and ask them for specific information they want you to receive, or questions they want answered – then pledge to do all you can in those three days to obtain it. Using the Benefits Worksheet provided above can help you manage and address their expectations. Learning that benefits you and your peers: Your manager and colleagues will get a full report on your attendance and what you learned Explain that you’ll take detailed notes at the conference and provide a post-event report and meeting within 2 weeks to your manager and colleagues that will communicate and share both the key lessons learned (as applicable to your organization’s needs) and the specific action points you recommend taking based on your learning experience. Your commitment to share the knowledge you received with others on your team will dramatically increase ROI of your attendance. Additionally, by tangibly demonstrating the lessons learned from the Conference, leadership should be more willing to fund your participation in the future. The best reports encourage people to come and ask you further questions. There is rarely much value in a 10-page report. Instead, a two or three page summary, with URLs and pointers is more impressive. Another option is to offer to meet with your colleagues for a recap the first week after the conference. Also, making presentations to others in your group who did not attend is an excellent way to deepen your education while also sharing valuable knowledge and techniques. ACI provides a copy of all presentations after the conference for you to download and use to share knowledge. “One of the best conference I have attended. The speaker and attendee list as well as the overall organization by ACI has been great.” Mohamed Asif, Head, Best Practice, Cranes Software International LTD. Implement, Implement, Implement It’s essential to convey that this conference is not abstract book learning. We demand that our presenters provide practical takeaways you can use back in your firm. Your sessions will be packed full of proven and tested real-world tips, tools and techniques that will benefit your firm. Value for money Hiring a single consultant of the caliber that presents at our conference could cost your firm many times the cost of your admission, and you’d get only one person’s advice rather than a whole faculty of experts, peers and competitors. Unique – once a year opportunity There is no other event like an ACI conference for value and depth of learning. You must convey that you simply will not be able to get this level of information in one place anywhere else in the next 12 months. That leaves your firm one year behind its competitors, and therefore at a disadvantage. Safety in numbers More than 20,000 people attend ACI conferences every year. This is a testament to the fact that ACI conferences continue to deliver value year-on-year. The unique and complimentary ACI Alumni Program is designed to provide returning delegates with unique networking and learning opportunities beyond the scope of their conference experience. “Very positive. Very well structured and helpful info in a short time.” Ana Maria Garcia Associate General Counsel, sanofi-aventis Re: Dear I would like for you to consider approving my attendance at the above mentioned conference. I attach the conference agenda and have - in this memo - briefly outlined the direct business benefits to the firm of my attendance. If anything needs clarification or elaboration, please let me know and I will be happy to provide additional detail. I appreciate that my attendance will represent a considerable investment in terms of time and money so you’ll also find a breakdown of expected costs and my plan for keeping the expense to an absolute minimum. You’ll also read my plan for providing you and the team with a full post-conference report to ensure we get maximum value from the investment. This conference is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for our organization to learn from the leading practitioners in the sector. This year’s event is especially important because in such changing economic times, we need to learn how to best respond. No other conference provides the quantity and quality of educational and tactical programming that will be presented at this conference. The conference is an intensive 2 day program of plenary education and specific hands-on learning sessions that are designed to be immediately actionable back at the office. Below, I’ve outlined some of the immediate challenges that we’re currently facing. Alongside you’ll find the conference sessions that I believe will help give us the solutions: 1. To keep up to date with changes in the industry. a. Insert session detail 2. To benchmark and learn the latest strategies. a. Insert session detail 3. We need to generate new business. a. Insert session detail 4. To gain specific technical knowledge. a. Insert session detail 5. To obtain a competitive edge. a. Insert session detail A Customizable Letter To Your Manager We’ve taken the opportunity to put together a letter, below that – if appropriate – you should feel free to customize and use in support of your attendance Other benefits: My attendance at this conference enables us to: » Learn examples of successes delivered by speakers from other firms » Develop more revenue from existing and potential clients » Get up-to-speed on new technologies and tools that we’re not using nor have fully evaluated. » Help us reduce costs and “do more with less” » Ensure that we avoid costly mistakes: Candid sessions will help us repeat costly mistakes made by other firms » Learn how to maximize the value of our existing initiatives. » Obtain best practices » . Many of the sessions are geared towards benchmarking best practices. My attendance and report means that we can get a clear picture of what the competition is doing. Full post-conference report Should you agree to send me to the conference you can be assured that within 2 weeks of my return I will provide you and the team with a full post-conference report / meeting outlining the specific lessons learned and my recommendations. Expense The cost breaks down as follows: *Conference Registration Fee includes materials, breakfasts, lunches and all post-conference receptions I believe that the specific benefits to us of my attendance at this year’s conference represent an appropriate use of our training budget. I am confident that my attendance will pay dividends and I will work tirelessly to ensure that they do. I would like to spend some time with you in the next few weeks to find out what your requirements for my attendance would be and ensure that your expectations are met. I very much appreciate your consideration of my request. If you require any further information at this stage, please let me know. Sincerely, Conference Registration* $ Workshop Registration* $ Materials Fees None Flight $ Lodging $ Evening Meal $ Transportation to / from Hotel $ Total $ © American Conference Institute, 2010