Have you heard the stories about managers not wanting to send people to places like Las Vegas or Orlando for conferences because of the many attractive distractions? If you have been to previous CMG conferences, you know that those excuses are in reality not true. If there's one thing CMG attendees do, it's go to sessions. I heard a story in Orlando in the 1990's in which a hotel employee surveyed the vacant hallways during sessions and said "You people really go to your sessions, don't you?".
Well, there's a reason for that. A CMG conference has the latest information on a wide array of subjects that matter to capacity planners, performance analysts, and everyone else who attends CMG. There's information in sessions you just can't afford to miss.
Budgets are tight, it's true. But if you really work on The Boss, you can show him/her enough reasons to attend the conference and the purse strings just might loosen. You need to demonstrate that CMG'09 has the content that will jump start your efforts with today's hot issues such as Cloud Computing and Software as a Service (SaaS). Go through the agenda and you'll find plenty of examples to show this. Two of the most important are the Keynote and Plenary presentations. These are being delivered by experts who understand the implications of SaaS and Cloud Computing and are going to share their knowledge with all of us.
I recently discussed CMG-T, which provides specialized training in various areas. This may be something you have been looking all year for. Now it's here for you - seize the moment and show The Boss!
Whatever your platform may be, you'll find plenty of content that you can show to management. You'll learn things that you can put to immediate use when you return from the conference - or maybe even while you're still there! Call or email The Boss, remembering to sound excited, and pass the information on. Not only will you look good, it's Step One in justifying CMG'10!
This may sound silly, but don't tell me it's never happened. That's the beauty of a CMG conference. Real time information being immediately passed on and implemented - what a concept. This is a real opportunity. And after all this, if The Boss is still reluctant, here are even more tips to justify your trip to CMG from someone who knows a thing or 2 about conferences and their value: http://www.cmg.org/conference/justify.html
CMG is just too valuable to miss. In the last few years I've seen and heard of job descriptions that actually mention "CMG membership preferred". Many people understand CMG's value. Now that the registration deadline has been extended you have some time to convince the right people that CMG is where you need to be to maximize your organization's training dollars this year. Register here. Reserve your hotel room here.
CMG'09: information you need, just waiting for you.
Dave Thorn
General Chair, CMG'09
cmggc@cmg.org