Convince Your Boss

Want to attend LISA ‘13, but not sure about broaching the subject with your boss? We’ve drafted a suggested “Convince Your Boss” letter to help make the process easier. Feel free to edit it to your liking, and remember to modify the italicized text within the brackets ({ }) to your situation. See you in Washington, D.C!

 

Dear {Boss Name},

I’d like to attend the LISA (Large Installation System Administration) Conference taking place November 3-8, in Washington, D.C. For 27 years, LISA has been the meeting place for system and network admins. Created for and by Sysadmins, it’s put on by USENIX, a non-profit organization that’s been working with the advanced technology community since 1975.

Here are three ways in which I envision my attendance at LISA ’13 strengthening {Company Name}:

  • Many of the 40 half- and full-day training sessions and tutorials cover security, file and storage, and cloud computing—all areas that we need to get up to speed on for compliance issues
  • Paper presentations, workshops, interactive Q & A sessions, and Keynote Addresses from industry leaders and researchers will bring me up to date on new and developing technologies, which will help us build a more realistic and cost-effective short- and long-term technology plan
  • Networking and “hallway tracks” are highly encouraged, so I’ll have plenty of time to chat with other attendees and speakers about issues and challenges facing similarly-sized companies. There's even a "Hack Lab," where I'll be able to try out technologies discussed in the presentations. 

There is an early bird registration discount, which ends October 15. The cost will vary depending on the number of training days, but having looked at the program, I think {X} days of training at {Y}, plus the technical session fee of {Z}, would best fit our needs. {Note that I’m already a USENIX member, which reduces the fees by $X}. There will be additional travel and hotel costs, but I’ll do my best to stay within a mutually agreed upon budget.

I realize that this is a significant funding request. I would be happy to write a post-conference report detailing what I’ve learned, and a schedule detailing how to best implement any new changes. You can learn more about the event at www.usenix.org/conference/lisa13. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns; I do hope we can make this work.

Thanks,




{Your Name}