Making the Case to Attend SSP’s 48th Annual Meeting

In today’s tumultuous landscape, budget constraints are tightening across organizations, affecting travel and professional development opportunities. Yet in times of rapid transformation—particularly with AI, open access, and research integrity challenges reshaping our industry—strategic connection and knowledge-sharing have never been more crucial.

Our 48th Annual Meeting (May 27-29, 2026, in Chula Vista, California) offers a unique opportunity to navigate these changes collectively. Here are some tips on making a case for attendance to your organization.

Emphasize ROI & Concrete Takeaways

When budgets are tight, every expense needs clear justification and examples of how it benefits the larger organization. Focus your attendance request on specific, measurable returns:

1. Identify specific challenges your organization faces that align with conference sessions. Review the program and highlight 3-5 sessions that directly address the problems your team needs to solve. (Optional: Calculate the consulting fees you’d otherwise pay for similar insights.)
2. Prepare a concrete plan for sharing insights internally. Detail how you’ll document learnings, which team members you’ll brief post-conference, and your timeline for implementing new ideas and initiatives. 
3. Quantify past conference value. If you’ve attended SSP (or comparable industry events) previously, compile examples of cost-saving or revenue-generating initiatives implemented from past meetings. If you’re a first-timer, research and reference case studies from colleagues at similar organizations.

Attendance as a Strategic Advantage

In times of rapid change, isolation from larger discussions can become a competitive disadvantage:

1. Position the conference as crucial market intelligence. With thirty educational sessions plus plenary talks, the SSP Annual Meeting provides insights on a range of topics and across a variety of publishing stakeholders. Plus, we all know that some of the best market intelligence comes from hanging around the hotel bar. Speaking of which…
2. Highlight cross-functional networking with publishers, funders, librarians, technologists, and industry service orgs, which provides valuable context for strategic planning that can’t be replicated through reading industry publications alone.
3. Emphasize attendance as relationship maintenance with key clients, partners, and vendors. The Exhibitors Marketplace offers efficient connections with multiple service providers in one location, potentially eliminating the need for separate meetings. And since the meeting attracts such a large audience, it means you can set up multiple meetings with clients and partners in one place, potentially saving you additional trips.

Highlight Offerings that Maximize ROI

1. Do your research. Whether it’s the Buddy Program, First-Time Attendee offerings, or the Get Involved Fair, spotlight the meeting offerings that help you get the most out of your attendance. 
2. Commit to capturing and sharing content. As an attendee, you get access not only to the onsite offerings but also to recordings and posters so you can check out the sessions you missed after the fact. Offer to create a detailed report, host a lunch-and-learn session, or develop process improvement proposals based on conference insights.
3. Leverage the EPIC Awards as a strategic opportunity. The EPIC Awards Celebration and Dinner represents not only an elegant evening event but also a concentrated opportunity to connect with the industry’s most innovative leaders and organizations. This exciting recognition program showcases excellence across tools, products, publications, marketing, media, and initiatives, providing a curated shortlist of the industry’s most successful approaches to today’s challenges and offering invaluable competitive intelligence in a single evening. 

By framing SSP Annual Meeting attendance as strategic intelligence gathering, efficiency improvement, and essential relationship maintenance rather than a professional perk, you can make a compelling case that resonates with financial decision-makers. Hope to see you there!

To build a strong case for attending the SSP Annual Meeting that appeals to financial decision-makers, position your attendance not as a mere professional perk but as essential for gathering strategic intelligence, boosting efficiency, and maintaining crucial professional relationships. We’ve made this even easier by creating a sample letter you can customize to fit your needs.

We look forward to seeing you there! Psst… Early registration ends April 17.