Make Your Case for Attending ACTFL 2015
Making the case for participating in professional development and support for travel and other expenses to
attend the ACTFL Convention requires a solid understanding of the potential benefits to your school/institution,
supervisor, and colleagues. You need to be able to communicate these benefits clearly—especially in times of
tight budgets and reduced staff. Use the information that follows to help make your case.
Steps
1. Familiarize yourself with why attending the convention will be valuable to you as a language educator.
2. Present the costs, showing how much you can save if you register and book travel and housing early.
3. Study any preliminary information about the program that is available, identifying sessions and
programs that fit with your school or institution’s priorities and could benefit you professionally.
4. Share preliminary program information with your colleagues. Talk to your colleagues about how your
attending could benefit them, what kind of information you could bring back to help them, and what
sessions they’d like you to attend.
5. Share program information with your supervisor and find out what sessions they think would be of
greatest benefit.
6. Review the list of Pre-convention workshops to see if this extra day of intensive training would be
beneficial to you and your colleagues.
7. Put together a plan for how essential tasks, including your teaching responsibilities, will get done while
you’re away, including how technology will keep you accessible and in touch as needed.
8. Describe how you’ll share notes you take from attending sessions, roundtables, and electronic posters
and useful information you gather from exhibitors and informal conversations with colleagues. State
that a written report will be provided to your supervisor. Promise that you’ll focus on implementing one
new idea that pays back many times the investment of time and money!
9. Put your request in writing—use this sample memo to help.
Sample Memo to Your Administrator Below
MEMORANDUM
To: Your Administrator
From: You
Re: Attendance at the 2015 ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo
Date: As soon as possible
The 2015 ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo is being held in San Diego, California, November 20-22 with
pre-convention workshops on Thursday, November 19. The ACTFL Convention has the reputation for being a top
educational and networking event for language educators. The educational sessions and the networking opportunities
with colleagues from around the world have an outstanding track record for bringing long-term professional benefits,
including sharing ideas and best practices throughout the language education field.
If I am supported to attend ACTFL Annual Convention, here are some ways in which I will ensure that the investment pays
dividends for our language program, and how I will make the most of the opportunity for professional development.
I will attend the following programs, among others:
 State the value of additional training you would receive by attending one of the Pre-convention workshops.
 List 8-10 educational sessions related to your work that you would like to attend and why they will help you do
your job better.
I will plan on spending time in the exhibit hall to meet with exhibitors as appropriate, to build our professional
relationships. I will focus on attending some of the exhibitor workshops to hear about new products and see
demonstrations of the latest technologies looking for cost-effective innovations and new products that would benefit
(school/institution).
 Provide exhibitor list including their specific product area
 List new products you’ve read or heard about and wish to see demos of
The networking at ACTFL Conventions is outstanding. I will seek to connect with people whose ideas and specializations can
contribute to my professional development and education, making me increasingly effective in my position. I will network
with people I meet while attending sessions and other events.
After I return, I will take the following steps to ensure that what I learn benefits language education program:
 Implement at least one new idea that makes us more efficient and/or effective.
 Share notes on sessions
 Share my list of action items and general ideas
 Provide a written report
I will need (XXX) days away from school to attend. The costs are as follows:
[provide a budget listing all anticipated expenses]
If you could make the decision before July 8, 2015, we will save money by qualifying for early bird registration. Thank you
for your consideration.
Sincerely,