How to Get your Boss to Send you to the Atlassian Summit User Conference

Summit is the grand Atlassian event of the year. With the palpable enthusiasm of the employees, the knowledge of the presenters, and the immense networking opportunities, this is the place to experience all that is Atlassian.

Visit http://summit.atlassian.com for all the details about the upcoming event.

Business Justification

With all the tech conferences occurring every year, how do you convince your company to send you to Summit?

In your proposal, answer the following questions:

• What do you hope to learn? Use specific examples of problems you can solve by attending. Example: “I’ll learn about the new Certification program you were asking about.” or “I’ll take your question about X straight to the Support Bar!” Use the “continuing education” or training angle. You need to learn something new this year right? This could be cheaper or the same cost as other training opportunities.
• What valuable experiences will you have?
• Who will you network with?
• Add statistics to your pitch. Example: How big was last year’s event? How many people attended? How many sessions were there? Who were the speakers and sponsors?  This information is useful to compare against other events and communicate value.

Top 5 Justification Reasons

1. Each year I leave with pages of “new ideas” to bring back to my company.
2. You’ll get answers to your questions directly from Atlassian or from companies sharing similar problems.
3. You’ll meet fellow users, Solution Partners (vendors, consultants), and Atlassian employees you wouldn’t normally have access to.  How useful would it be to have some Atlassian employee business cards in your pocket?
4. You’ll gain an “insider’s view” into upcoming features and changes in the works.
5. It’s a marketing opportunity for your company. You’ll hand out your business cards and wear your company logo shirt, right?

Budget

The flight and the conference hotel are likely expensive, so you need to prepare your supervisor for the sticker shock. Help soften the blow with a list of things your company won’t have to pay for. 

For example, you probably don’t need a rental car. Parking in a major city is challenging and cost prohibitive. If your hotel is close to or in the conference location, skip the rental car. You’ll save hundreds by taking a cab or public transportation between the airport and hotel. List a big, visual $0 next to that line item.

The “meals” line item can be listed as $0 or almost $0 as well. Atlassian feeds you well on conference days. You won’t be spending money on additional food.

Also see: Atlassian Summit Survival Guide, Atlassian Summit Travel Guide, and Summit Through the YearsR

Translations: Read this in German