Are you a beer industry marketing or communications professional? We want you to succeed at your job. You already know you need to stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends and you have various options to do that. Beer industry conferences like the Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference not only provide education but also create the perfect environment for networking and learning from your peers.
But the question is: how can you get your boss to approve this expense? I asked my boss what he would need to approve me attending a conference and he asked me three questions (adapted to apply to the BMTC):
What is the cost?
What are the total expenses? Include everything from registration, hotel, food, and flights. Your boss wants to know what the investment is.
Why this conference?
There are other ways to learn about beer, marketing, and tourism, such as online courses. Why THIS conference?
The Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference is the only conference focused on beer marketing and beer tourism. It is three days of learning. Could you find this information online? Probably not. Even if you could, would you ever take three days to study this? Perhaps more importantly, the conference offers ample time to learn and network with peers, something that online courses don’t offer.
What will you do with the knowledge?
This is important. You have to prove it was worth it.
This could be a writeup post-conference that details the knowledge you gained. The summary can then be distributed to other employees so they learn as well. Another option would be to go into the conference with a specific problem the business is having (increase taproom sales, fill events, etc.) and promise to create a plan to address that after returning.
We wish you luck with your budget approval process!
If you are interested in learning more about the Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference head over to our “Why Attend” page. The BMTC is heading to St. Pete/ Clearwater from February 4-6, 2020.