Would your employer be willing to pay at least part of the expenses of attending the Technical Communication Summit in Sacramento, CA, 15–18 May 2011? It couldn't hurt to ask! Consider writing a memo to your supervisor that explains how you and your firm would benefit from your attendance. The following model is based on a memo that worked for its author. Feel free to modify it for use within your company.
Dear [your supervisor's name]:
To help provide [your company] with the most current professional methods and technological advances in editing/writing and report/publication management, I would like to attend the Society for Technical Communication's annual conference—the Technical Communication Summit—in Sacramento, CA, 15–18 May 2011. The conference will offer sessions in eight tracks: Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Design, Architecture, and Publishing; Education and Training; Managing People, Projects, and Business; Professional Development; Usability and Accessibility; Web Technologies; and Writing and Editing. There are more than 80 education sessions over the three days of the conference, and the following are of particular relevance to the company:
[List the sessions that you think will benefit your company most. Refer to the list of sessions in the conference Preliminary Program, available on the Summit website, http://summit.stc.org.]
Although I will try to attend these particular sessions, some of the most popular may be closed because of limited seating. In that case, I will choose alternates. I also will have additional access to almost all of the sessions after the conference through STC's SUMMIT@aClick. This service provides access to the sessions online as MP3 files, audio synched to PowerPoint and video synched to PowerPoint, and STC is the only meeting in the technical communication field that offers this. Our company can also benefit from the conference Proceedings, which includes papers from many conference sessions and is provided free to all full-conference registrants.
Costs:
[List transportation costs, registration fee, cost of meals, and the price per night of the hotel room. These are posted on the Summit website.]
Summary of benefits for [your company]:
The sessions will provide me with more knowledge of report production, editing, writing, management concepts, and government contracting. This knowledge will enable me to handle [a particular project] with more professionalism and confidence, which will reflect favorably on [your company]. I will be able to pass on much of this information to coworkers, to access SUMMIT@aClick again and again throughout the year, and to use my notes and copy of the Proceedings as a valuable reference.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
