Justification to Attend the SILA National Education Conference
To assist you in justifying your attendance and obtain budget approval to attend the SILA National
Education Conference, following is a sample letter to your manager that outlines the conference
costs and the return of investment that will benefit you and your organization.
Sample Letter to Manager:
I would like to attend the SILA National Education Conference, the premier venue for insurance
licensing and securities registration professionals. This conference will be held October 2-5, 2011
in Austin, Texas at the Hilton Hotel. This conference will enable me to attend a number of
sessions covering current and relative topics that are directly applicable to my work in meeting
licensing and compliance requirements. It also allows me to network with a number of regulators
and licensing experts. Many of the technical presentations give information on how to reduce
costs, improve processing turnarounds, increase service times and deal with regulatory
compliance issues that will provide immediate benefits to our company.
I am seeking approval for the registration fee and travel expenses to the conference. I also wish
to attend the optional training class, entitled ________________ because it teaches the basics of
licensing and compliance, and I will be able to learn from subject matter experts teaching this
course.
The total costs for the conference are: <The numbers in brackets below will need to be adjusted
to reflect your specific travel expenses and whether you will be attending one of the training
classes offered on Saturday or Sunday.>
Complete Costs:
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Conference fee: $525.00 (the full price conference fee is $600.00, but can be reduced to
$525.00 by registering early to save an additional $75. The early-bird discount expires
on July 15, 2011).
Airfare: <$300 round trip (insert your airline costs here)>
Transportation: $24 shuttle fee (round trip ticket)
Hotel: $175.00 per night, ($201.00 with tax ) x 3 nights = $603.00
Meals: <$75> (Three breakfasts and two lunches are included in the conference
registration fees, in addition to heavy reception food on Sunday and a Tuesday night
dinner.)
The total estimated costs are <$1,144.29>.
(Note: Add in training class cost and one additional hotel night charge to the above fees if
attending one of the training classes).
The return on this investment is the savings of research time and costs we would need to spend
to obtain information on their expertise in the areas in which I work. Getting the information in a
seminar format will allow us to implement changes and ideas quickly. Incidentally, I listed some
of the topics that are planned for this year’s conference the compliance topics being addressed at
the SILA conference. There are a number of technical presentations that I would attend that
would enhance my knowledge in areas of licensing and compliance that could immediately be put
to use with the projects that I am working on. The presentations are done by regulators and
licensing experts who are sharing. Including all topics would make this memo much too long.
Privacy & Protection – Best Practices of Carriers and Agencies
Today’s headlines are filled with companies that have inadvertently released private,
sensitive information to the public or have had their customers’ private information
compromised. As licensing professionals, we must do our part to keep our customer’s
trust, protect our companies brand equity while complying with all applicable laws and
regulations. This lively panel will share their knowledge, perspectives and their
company’s approach to Privacy and Protection.
Agency/Carrier Best Practices & Communication Session
So much has changed over the last 10 years regarding electronic data submission and
uniform license/appointment processing that it is difficult to believe in 2011 the
methodology for exchanging data between agency and carrier remains about the same
as it was before 2001. Come discuss processing and communication issues with
industry experts and take away innovative ideas about how the agency/carrier
relationship can work more efficiently.
Producer Screening & Due Diligence
Every time you onboard a producer to represent your company, you are putting your
company's reputation on the line. What steps are you taking to ensure the producers you
bring on board are qualified and of good character? Are your producer screening and
due diligence processes tough enough to keep your company's name off the front page
for all of the wrong reasons? Join us for an interactive panel discussion as vendor and
industry experts discuss producer screening and due diligence best practices including
the do's and don'ts of background investigations, additional screening techniques, and
producer applicant review committees.
Best Practices Sessions
The Best Practices sessions are where peer networking comes alive. We learn from
each other on meeting the challenges that we all face and solutions that work or didn’t
work. These are popular sessions and provide priceless benefits to addressing specific
issues that I work with on a daily basis.
Regional Regulator Updates
These sessions are the ‘must attend’ sessions to obtain the important regulatory changes
from the regulators.
A complete copy of the 2011 Conference Agenda is attached for your review.
The SILA national conference is always rich in educational information that can be put to use
immediately. After my return, I will summarize this information in a post-conference report that
will include:
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General conference information
Presentation summaries
Keynote speech summaries
Vendor presentation summaries
Regulatory changes
Information about available technology gathered from conversations with vendors at the
Exhibitor Fair
Ideas to be used upon returning from the conference
One final benefit not yet mentioned is the opportunity for me to develop better contacts with my
peers and regulators that will make my attendance at this SILA conference a wise investment,
which will yield rich dividends for our company. The list of contacts will provide us with a ‘low
cost’ means to network with national experts, peer companies and regulators throughout the year.
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the SILA conference. Thank you for
your consideration.
Your name