“For your Approving Manager” – Justifying your attendance at RTC.

Let’s face it - A lot of us would love to attend RTC for all the benefits that it brings to our skills and careers, for how it can improve the quality and output of our work, and how it allows us to innovate and develop. We’ll probably even have a good time! We’ll certainly develop a range of contacts that will be of great value in the future. However, our firm or department’s management may not see it this way – they may well perceive an event such as RTC simply an expense, or worse, a junket.

What we need to do is put the case for your attendance at RTC, in clear and simple terms that convey to management the benefits to your organisation from your attendance. To help with this, we have provided some tips, and a sample letter (below) that you can use as a starting point for building the case for your attendance. Feel free to cut and paste and modify to your own voice, but keep it short, and focussed on the benefits to the firm or department, and not on your desire to attend. We have listed some of these benefits below:

Relevance:

Focus on the unique group of industry experts and super-users that attend and speak at RTC. The conference is proud to have many of the leading figures of the Building Information Modelling and Revit worlds presenting at the conference, including international and local speakers with unique insights that are simply not available elsewhere.

Point out that RTC is a “for users, by users” conference, and not a sales event. RTC’s focus remains on providing the opportunity for the exchange of information and ideas in what can be a complex and technical field. RTC’s organisers and presenters are directly involved with delivering BIM, hands-on, with genuine real-world experience that you can benefit from.

Mention that RTC’s abstract selection process and number of simultaneous streams provides a choice of the most relevant and innovative content, and a unique view of cutting-edge workflows and techniques.

Technical benefits:

In your letter, provide some concise details of specific sessions that have particular relevance to your organisation or role, especially:

  • Best practices and processes that increase efficiency and productivity
  • Workflows, techniques , and tools to bolster your skill-set
  • New technologies and case studies of successful projects and techniques
  • Updates on government policies and legislation, industry standards, and commercial opportunities

Networking:

Mix with peers facing similar challenges and improving their understanding of similar subjects.

RTC presents a unique opportunity to discuss problems and challenges that you are facing with your both your peers, and also our unique group of experts – there is a solution to your particular problem, and RTC is where you are most likely to find it!

Expand your network at our social functions, and establish future business and collaboration opportunities. With the entire venue solely occupied by the conference there are no distractions, and the networking benefits are maximised.

Note that there is also an opportunity to raise the profile of your firm by entering some of your work in the competitions or in the RTC BIM Showcase. Leading firms have been using these two avenues to show the quality of their work in BIM and establish their credentials in what is becoming a required field of expertise in many parts of the industry.

Value for Money

Benefit from the low rates we have negotiated at the venue. Note that the conference’s non-CBD location means cheaper prices, and that transportation from Sydney Airport is quick, convenient, and complimentary.

With the wide range of material on offer, and the choice of seven simultaneous classes, you might need to send a team! If you are, then ask for the group booking discount for five or more full conference delegates from the same organisation – including from multiple offices.

If your firm or department has multiple offices, then you should look at the opportunity to haveyour CAD/BIM/Design Technology/IT get-together at the conference. Or combine with VisDay for your visualisation crew. Think of the teambuilding & team development benefits! If you are happy to share rooms, then you can bring the costs down further, and increase your chances of gaining approval.

Compare the costs of RTC, with its unique content, with those of commercially motivated events, out of office training (which usually only covers the basics, and not innovations and best practice), and the costs of external consultants: how much would similar insight and breadth cost if you were to pay a consultant for three days?

You might like to note also that there is now a special RTC ‘Team Ticket’ which will allow a manager or principal of the office to attend the Conference’s Principals’ Day, which focusses on the business issues related to BIM, while a staff member attends the full three day conference. This ticket is offered at a special rate of $250 less than the cost of the combined tickets, and will allow managers and principals to understand the profound changes brought about by the BIM revolution, while seeing the value of the conference for technical staff. Full details will be announced shortly.

Note that RTC is a day of your time (Saturday), as well as two days from your firm or department. Three days of benefit, for two days away from the office!

Post Conference Benefits:

Managers want to see tangible benefits from your attendance. Offer to:

  • Deliver a short presentation in your office, after the event.
  • Implement improved processes within your office from something that you learned at the conference. Find ways to reduce costs from working better.
  • Train your colleagues to spread the benefits of your attendance to the widest possible group.
  • Share the presentation materials with your colleagues. You will be able to download them from this website with your conference password (for attendees only).
  • Build your office manuals using the best practice guidelines in the conference presentations.
  • Act on new contacts and collaboration opportunities.
  • Use your awareness of new standards, policies and legislation to lower risks and improve outcomes in your organisation.

Think about becoming a presenter in future years. This offers a range of benefits and will cement your attendance in future years. It will also have you thinking in new ways as you strive to improve your skills and processes. It will improve your industry profile, your position within your firm, and your career.
After RTC, be clear about what you will be implementing, and tell your approving manager what has been achieved, to improve your chances of attending next year!

Sample Letter – Please edit to reflect relevant information for you

Insert Date

Dear (supervisor’s name),

I feel it would be beneficial to the firm if I was to attend the upcoming Revit Technology Conference (RTC) event, to be held at Northbeach, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, on Thursday 24 – Saturday 26 May, 2012.

RTC is a training conference established by a group of BIM experts and Revit users to share expertise in a broad and complex field.The conference remains independent of commercial interests, allowing it to present users’ direct experience with the issues, free of sales-pitch. In all, over 100 separate classes, seminars, panel discussions, lab sessions and presentations are offered over the three days, with six or more sessions offered concurrently, allowing me to select a stream of activities that are specifically tailored to my needs.

Following a review of the conference program, I have selected a number of sessions with direct relevance to the key BIM and Revit issues which we face. Because of RTC’s session selection process, and its unique group of local and international experts, this information is simply not available elsewhere. Industry experts and peers, who have faced similar challenges, bring their insights to the presentations. It is particularly efficient and cost-effective to be able to gather sucha wide range of critical information at a single event. The conference is held Thursday through to Saturday (inclusive) to minimise the time away from work. For brevity, I have listed only a sample of the sessions that I would attend.

List most relevant sessions here.

The full price conference fee is $1,650, if the registration is before May 18th, but can be reduced to $1,485 per delegate if we send five or more from the firm. Accommodation, including breakfast is from $198 per night. The conference has arranged for complimentary bus transfers from Sydney Airport and CBD.

The conference will also allow me to network with a variety of industry experts and colleagues from around the world. The new contacts and specific knowledge gained by attending this event will be of great benefit to the organisation. Following the conference, I will be making the conference materials available to all staff, and will deliver a short presentation/training session on some of the subjects mentioned above.

There is also an opportunity for us to raise the profile of our firm by entering some of our work in the competitions or in the BIM Showcase.

Sincerely,

Your name here