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By The Associated Press

Careers: Employees may shoulder more costs for conferences

By MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON

For The Associated Press

When English teacher Peter Holtz recently attended a professional conference in Orlando, Fla., his school didn't put any money toward the trip. Nor did it pay a substitute to teach his classes at Ipswich Middle School, in Massachusetts.

But it did allow his colleagues to help him.

"We have a team of teachers that will cover for each other," Holtz said. "That doesn't cost anything."

Amid major corporate budget cuts, employees are looking for ways to attend seminars and professional meetings without busting their bosses' budget. Some are using their own money, vehicles and time to get to conferences that will make a difference in their jobs and advance their careers.

It's a smart strategy, said Celia Crossley, a career consultant in Columbus, Ohio.

"If you can get yourself to a professional conference, get there," she said. "This climate just reinforces the fact that you have to take care of your career."

And an employee who is willing to cover part of the expense is going to get the attention of management, said Ed Rigsbee, an expert in trade association conferences and president of Rigsbee Research Consulting Group in Los Angeles.

"If someone is willing to spend a nickel of their own, I'm going to be more willing to listen," said Rigsbee, who believes employees should invest 5 percent of their income in professional development.

The costs are generally tax-deductible.

Rigsbee suggests offering to pay for some of the expenses and seeing what the company can provide. If presented with the right plan, a boss might kick in frequent flier miles or offer hotel credits, he said.

Spend some time organizing your proposal before approaching management, recommended Peter Meyers, who runs User Effect, a consulting company in Chicago. Meyers, who wrote an article for his company's Web site entitled "Getting Your Boss to Pay for Conferences," suggests providing your manager with information about the seminars you plan to attend and how they will make you a greater asset to the company.

"People who haven't been in management don't realize that we don't really like to say no," he said. "Do your homework. Come in with all the facts."

If you're willing to pick up the entire tab, ask the boss to allow you to take the days off without using vacation time.

That's what Michelle Dollinger did. Her bosses aren't paying her way to a conference in Washington, D.C., but they are considering allowing her to attend on work time.

Dollinger, an intranet manager who serves as president of the Special Libraries Association's New York chapter, also will receive a $1,000 stipend from the organization to help pay for the hotel. She plans to share a room at the June meeting to save money.

She's OK with paying for travel, registration and meals out of her own pocket because she knows the lectures and classes will help her grow professionally. She's also pleased that her employer sees the value of her honing her skills at a meeting with her peers.

"They want to help," said Dollinger, who works in New York City. "I don't feel like it's a slight. It's just circumstances."

Kathryn Murphy-Judy, a French professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, agreed. When the university pulled funding for professional development, she decided to pay her own way to three out-of-state and three in-state conferences.

"In every instance I really needed to go because of the collaboration I'm involved in and the projects I have," Murphy-Judy said. "I'll be learning ways to save the university money."

She doesn't worry that paying her own way this year will deter the university from picking up the tab for future conferences.

"I think of it more as a sense of solidarity and a kind of camaraderie that says we've got to get through these bad times and stay involved in our profession," she said.

Special Focus from the Associated Press

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