How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Attend GOTO Amsterdam 2024

[Email template to ask for approval below!]

We know it can be tough asking for budget to attend an event. Even though we think attending GOTO Amsterdam is a no-brainer, with expert practitioners and thought leaders covering the full stack of software development, including cloud native, DevOps, security, developer productivity and emerging technologies like serverless and artificial intelligence, it can be a hard sell to a manager who might view this as losing your valuable developer hours.

You can also check out this post on the importance of attending conferences for software developers to hear an attendee's perspective on the value of attending a conference.

But why GOTO Amsterdam in particular? Here are our top 5 reasons why we think you should attend:

  1. Learn from and network with industry experts and top practitioners

We’ve got a lot of brilliant speakers joining us this June and this is your chance to get some face to face time with them: hear from them on the big stage, work with them in a day-long, hands-on masterclass or mingle with them during breaks and parties. If you want to name drop a few folks, we’ve got you covered:

  1. Understand how to leverage new technologies, tools and methodologies

This one’s pretty straightforward: there’s a lot of new tech, ideas and trends out there. Figuring out exactly what’s worth you and your company’s time and energy is next to impossible, so we’ve gathered a group of experts and thought leaders to present the very latest in our world of software to directly help you prepare for future advancements, deliver new business value and improve your team's daily work.

  1. Share your own learnings and lessons with fellow attendees

The people you’ll want to meet with and learn from aren’t just listed on the speaker roster. We prioritize opportunities to network so that you can meet a ton of fellow developers working on real-world problems similar to yours. We’re expecting up to 700 attendees, and we can bet you’ll make some powerful connections with a good handful of them throughout your time with us.

  1. Sharpen your practical skills or gain new ones with a hands-on, interactive masterclass

Each and every masterclass is led by a true expert in their field — a higher quality training session is hard to find. Whether you’re interested in application security, software development methodologies like agile testing, emerging software architectures like serverless, or all of the above, there are plenty of masterclass options for you to choose from on June 10!

  1. Get inspired!

The whole program is focused on good old plain programming, with speakers discussing which technologies and methodologies we need to know now, what the future of software will bring, and how we can build more inclusive and collaborative teams.

Still need help convincing your boss? We’ve got you covered. Below is an email template you can use when requesting approval to attend the conference from your manager. We strongly recommend that you add in details on which talks and masterclasses you would like to attend. Please also feel free to customize the text!

 

Dear [MANAGER'S NAME],

I'd like your approval to attend GOTO Amsterdam (gotoams.nl) June 10-12.

GOTO Amsterdam 2024 consists of two days of conference talks and one day of hands-on masterclasses 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: gotoams.nl

I would also like to attend these sessions:

  • [TALK TITLE - recommend including the link!]
  • [TALK TITLE - recommend including the link!]
  • [TALK TITLE - recommend including the link!]

At the conference, I’ll get the chance to network with the 700 software developers, architects and engineering managers attending, not just to connect with them, but to learn from them and to understand how other companies are solving similar problems at work.

GOTO Amsterdam provides lunch and a full day of refreshments and snacks on the days I attend. During the conference days, there are also a few special evening activities where I'll have a chance to socialize with the speakers and the other attendees.

I'm confident that attending GOTO Amsterdam 2024 will help me better understand how to leverage new technologies, tools and methodologies to help our project and team, and I'm really looking forward to gaining more practical skills to improve our everyday work. If I'm able to attend this conference, I would love to then present a summary of my experience, recommendations and findings back to our team.

Do you agree that this conference is worthwhile for me to attend? If so, I'd be happy to discuss which sessions and masterclasses I would attend in more detail.

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.

Thanks in advance,

[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TITLE]