How Do I Gain Approval to Attend a MUSE Event? | MUSEWeb

As many travel and education budgets continue to be slashed, it is even more critical to justify the expen

se of attending a MUSE event. Here is an outline of expenses, the return on investment, and other tips in order to rationalize your attendance at a MUSE event.

Expenses

Although there are a number of expenses – affected by a number of factors – using this worksheet will help you develop a cost estimate for attending an event.

Download Expense Worksheet.

Expense	Guideline	Cost
Registration fee	Check the MUSE website	$
Workshop fee (if applicable)	Optional; Check the MUSE website	$
Flight	Use a web travel service for a quick estimate	$
Hotel	MUSE negotiates preferred rates; Check the MUSE website	$
Transportation (if flying)	Car rental or taxi to/from the airport	$
Transportation (if driving)	Use a web mapping site to calculate distances; 50 cents/mile (or, for Canada, 41 cents/km)	$
Parking	MUSE events typically offer free parking; Airport parking (if applicable)	$
Meals	MUSE events include most breakfasts, lunches, and breaks; consider your organization’s per diem rate	$
Total		$

Return on Investment

MUSE offers educational sessions on various necessary topics: 6.0; client / server 5.6; NPR training; RAC; ARRA; PACS; etc. And the most valuable benefit at a conference is usually networking. But how can it all be quantified?

When you propose to attend a conference, don’t focus on how much you want to go; focus on what you will specifically bring back to the organization as payback for the investment.

Some specific details you will need to identify include:

Session content – What sessions have particular relevance to your organization’s work? Specifically identify systems, technologies, or processes.
Vendor contacts – Will the conference showcase vendors with technologies you use or are evaluating for potential future use? Is this an opportunity during which you’ll be able to compare competing technologies?
Best practices – Will there be educational sessions in areas that will immediately benefit your duties or your organization?
Training – Will there be workshops designed to teach attendees a special skill and/or help your team overcome current or future challenges?

Although you might understand the benefits of the conference that interests you, your supervisor may not. Therefore, to be most effective in justifying the conference, you need to clearly articulate the connection between your organization’s knowledge requirements and the conference program. Do not assume that your supervisor will be able to automatically make those distinctions.

To support this process, use the following worksheet to help you focus on the benefits. Download ROI worksheet.

Your Organization’s Benefits	Specific Needs and the Conference Sessions & Training that Meet the Need
Networking Benefits	This conference will allow me to network with other relevant professionals and vendors. I will learn of current systems, technologies, and processes, and hear new ideas.
Teambuilding (if sending more than one person)	This conference will help build our team, providing a forum for team members to discuss systems, technologies, and processes and how we might apply them in our facility to improve our information workflow and processes.
Current systems
Future system exploration
Current technologies
Future technologies exploration
Current processes
Future processes exploration
Vendors with solutions you are exploring

Other tips:

Offer to prepare and deliver a short presentation and Q&A to your colleagues to share what you learned. That way, others at your facility will garner the benefits of your attendance too.
Share the syllabus and speaker handouts with your colleagues. Most speakers post their presentations to the MUSE website.
If you are working to obtain or maintain some certification, remind your supervisor that MUSE offers Continuing Nursing Education and Continuing Education Units (for pharmacy) at many events.
Be ready with a plan that shows who will cover for you while you are attending a MUSE event.
Offer to share a room to reduce hotel expenses.
Be sure to check out the registration page where all the various rates are listed to see if you qualify for any of the lower rates or discounts. Fees are waived for facility presenters and peer group leaders.
Use this justification letter as a guide to request funding to attend an educational MUSE event.

Now your supervisor should have a comprehensive picture in order to decide the value of your proposition. Think like a sales person. Don’t let your ‘customer’ infer the value of what you are selling – make that leap for them.

Sell your conference proposition!