Justify the Costs of Your Workshop Attendance

Getting approval for education and training funds has become an increasingly difficult task in today’s environment. COE has created a new series of documents that will help you demonstrate the value of attending a COE event align your professional development goals with COE educational offerings.

• Advance Program
• Getting Approval to Attend
• Helpful Pre-Workshop Tips
• Recording Your Workshop Experience
• Reporting Your Workshop Experience

Getting Approval to Attend

Easily explain the value of attending the workshop to your manager with this customizable letter. 

• Manager Letter

Support your justification materials with a general description of the workshop with workshop highlights and general information about the event.

• Fact Sheet

Align your professional development goals with the education and training you'll find at the workshop.

• Development Goals Worksheet

Prepare for the Workshop

1. Make a list of people you'd like to meet at the workshop and why you want to meet them. Do not be shy about approaching presenters and other experts. They are more accessible than you might think, especially if you make plans with them in advance. 
2. Prior to the workshop, contact the people on your list. Make a specific plan for a meal, coffee or a time and place to get together. 
3. Make a personal agenda for yourself that includes the people you're meeting as well as which sessions you'll be attending (using COE's helpful online session schedule tool). Be sure to include cell phone numbers or any other contact information you may need for any last-minute changes to your schedule. 
4. When you're at the conference, try to stick to your schedule as much as possible and take notes during the technical sessions and during your private conversations. However, leave some “white space” on your calendar in case you encounter new people at the workshop with whom you'd like to spend some time.

Recording Your Workshop Experience

Recording your workshop experience is easier than ever with this worksheet that will help you record your session attendance and networking contacts. 

• Session Worksheet

Reporting Your Workshop Experience

Easily demonstrate what you learned at the workshop with COE's post-workshop report, highlighting key take-aways, new professional contacts and technology solutions that may be implemented into your organization. 

• Post-Workshop Report

Track all of your workshop expenses with COE's expense tracker.

• Expense Worksheet

Network Prior to the Workshop