How to Justify Attending the STC Summit

Do you need help justifying why your manager or supervisor should send you to the 2017 Summit? Try sending the sample letter below! You might also want to peruse this website with your supervisor to give him/her a better idea of what the Summit is all about. Lastly, this article by John Sgammato of the STC New England Chapter was written for the 2014 Summit, but his general advice on making your case to attend still applies!

FROM: [your name]
TO: [your supervisor’s name]
RE: Staff Improvement

I would like to attend the 2017 Technical Communication Summit in Washington, DC, from 7-10 May, presented by the Society for Technical Communication. The Summit is packed with more than 60 education sessions over the three full workdays with topics covering all aspects of technical writing, editing, project management, and publication production. The theme of the 2017 Summit is “Gain the Edge to Get Results,” which will not only benefit me as an employee, but will also provide me with tangible takeaways for our entire team. [When/Now that] the full schedule of sessions is released, we can go over the list together to determine which ones will benefit the company most.

Costs:

[List transportation costs, registration fee, cost of meals, and the price per night of the hotel room.]

Summary of Benefits for [your company]:

With the current economic conditions, everyone at [your company] is being asked to do more and control costs wherever possible. This conference is a small investment in empowering me and others involved in [technical communication efforts] to do even more. The sessions will provide us with more knowledge of report production, editing, writing, management concepts, and government contracting. This knowledge will enable us to handle [a particular client or project] with more professionalism and confidence, which will reflect favorably on [your company].

Thank you for considering my request. If I’m able to attend, I think you and I will both find that this was an extremely worthwhile investment and one that we may consider repeating year after year.

Sincerely.
[Your Name]