Need help convincing your manager to attend GOTO Berlin 2018?

We know it can be tough asking for budget to attend an event. Even though we think attending GOTO Berlin is a no-brainer having 60+ sessions with expert practitioners and thought leaders discussing the most important topics in our world of software, it can be a hard sell to a manager who might view this as losing valuable developer hours.
 
This article has a great overview of how to get your manager to agree to sending you to a cool conference like GOTO Berlin.
 
But why GOTO Berlin in particular? Here are our top 5 reasons why we think you should attend:
 
  1. Hear directly from industry experts and top practitioners what the future of software will bring
    These legends include the man behind "Conways Law" himself Melvin Conway, the desinger of the Acorn Micro-Computer and its programming language BBC BASIC Sophie Wilson, and co-founder of the Spring Framework Jürgen Höller and at GOTO Berlin, you can actually meet them during breaks, meals and the conference party.
     
  2. Understand how to leverage new technologies, tools and methodologies
    This directly helps you prepare for future advancements in our world of software, deliver new business value and improve you and your team’s everyday work.
     
  3. Share war stories with other attendees
    You’ll meet many other developers at the conference working on real-world problems similar to yours! We prioritize the opportunities to network so that you can not just connect with another developer but learn from each other on how to solve the hard problems.
     
  4. Gain practical skills by learning (or advancing your knowledge!) across many disciplines in software development with a hands-on workshop
    Whether you’re interested in application security, software development methodology like agile testing, emerging software architectures like Serverless or all of the above, there is so much to learn at GOTO!
     
  5. Be inspired!
    The whole program is focused on people, privacy and programming with speakers discussing how past innovations (and mistakes!) led to incredible new opportunities for all kinds of technologies. Our goal is for all of us to understand the past advancements, discuss the current challenges and plan for the exciting future!
     
Still need help convincing your boss? We got you covered. Below is an email template you can use when requesting your manager to ap prove of you attending the conference. We strongly recommend that you add in details on which talks and workshops you would like to attend. Please also feel free to customize the text!
 
 
Dear [MANAGER'S NAME],
 
I would like your approval to attend GOTO Berlin (gotober.com) on October 30 - November 2, 2018 at the bcc in Berlin.
 
GOTO Berlin 2018 consists of over three days of conference talks and two days of hands-on workshops on many topics related to my everyday work like [TOPIC] and [TOPIC]. I'm especially interested in hearing [SPEAKER] present their talk on [TALK TITLE]. You can see the full conference program here: gotober.com/2018/schedule
 
I will also attend these sessions:
  1. [TALK TITLE - recommend including the link!]
  2. [TALK TITLE - recommend including the link!]
  3. [TALK TITLE - recommend including the link!]
 
At the conference, I will network with the other 800+ software developers, architects and engineering managers attending, not just connect but to learn from each other on how other companies are solving similar hard problems at work. There are also cool companies exhibiting like Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services and I hope to learn more about their offerings.
 
GOTO Berlin offers a flexible package so I can customize my experience with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 day passes. Each conference or workshop day is 649 EUR. On each conference and workshop day I attend, full day refreshments including lunch will be served. During the conference days, there are great evening activities – including a keynote from Melvin Conway who gave Conways Law its name!
 
Attending GOTO Berlin will help me better understand how to leverage new technologies, tools, and methodologies to help our project and team. I am really looking forward to gaining more practical skills to improve our everyday work. If I am able to attend GOTO Berlin, I would then like to present a summary of my experience, recommendations, and findings to our team.
 
Do you think this conference is worthwhile for me to attend? I'd be happy to discuss which sessions I would attend along with joining any hands-on workshops with you more in-depth.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TITLE]
 
P.S. It would be great to get your approval or discuss more soon so I can make the appropriate travel arrangements before hotels and transportation costs get more expensive.