Atlassian Summit 2015: how to convince your boss

Ahhh, the end of summer. (Or in the case of our southern hemisphere readers, the equally-lovely end of winter.) The kids are back in school, it’s still warm enough to grill up some burgers n’ brats, and your sunburns have finally healed. In short, everyone in the office is in a good mood. Which got me thinking: if I was one of the hundreds of Atlassian customers out there who’d like to attend Summit 2015, but hadn’t gotten around to asking my manager about it, this is the time to do it.

Now, if you’re a regular reader of the blog, you know that I have no trouble at all with words. So here’s a little Friday Fun Thing™ to help you find the words with which to convince your boss – my teeny-tiny gift to you, dear reader, should you be among the lexically challenged (or just a huge fan of MadLibs). I’ll do two variants: one for returning attendees, and one for first-timers.

For returning attendees

Dear __________ (boss’ name),

Remember back in  ______ (year) when I attended Summit, Atlassian’s super awesome user conference? Sending me there was yet another wise and __________ (flattering adjective) decision on your part! I got to swap ideas with loads of other people who use __________ (product name–e.g. Stash), and as you may recall, that led to some pretty dramatic changes to the way we do __________ (process name).

Well, Summit 2015 is coming up in November in San Francisco, and we shouldn’t pass it up. The sessions look amazing. Especially the ones for__________ (software / IT / back-office / enterprise) teams like ours. Plus, it’s a great chance to connect with Atlassian staff and talk with them about how we could be using__________ (product name) more effectively. Between that and the sessions, I’d be able to bring back a bunch of info that will help us that those__________ (problem #1) and__________ (problem #2) issues we’ve been wrestling with lately. Come to think of it, __________ (name) and __________ from the __________ (name of a team) team would probably get a lot out of it, too.

Also, I’ll be sure to pick up some of those __________ (San Francisco delicacy – e.g., Sees candies) we all loved so much last time. So… whaddaya say? If you can spare me for a few days, this would be a solid investment for our team.

– _____ (your name)

For first-time attendees

Dear __________ (boss’ name),

We’ve been using __________ (product name–e.g. Stash) for about __________ (period of time) now, and our team pretty much has the hang of it, but I think we can do better. I feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface of what it can do for our team and the way we do __________ (process name).

Well, Summit 2015 is coming up in November in San Francisco, and we shouldn’t pass it up. The sessions look amazing. Especially the ones for __________ (software / IT / back-office / enterprise) teams like ours. Plus, it’s a great chance to connect with Atlassian staff and talk with them about how we could be using __________ (product name) more effectively. Between that and the sessions, I’d be able to bring back a bunch of info that will help us that those __________ (problem #1) and __________ (problem #2) issues we’ve been wrestling with lately.

Also, I’ll be sure to pick up some of those __________ (San Francisco delicacy – e.g., Sees candies) people keep raving about. So… whaddaya say? If you can spare me for a few days, this would be a solid investment for our team.

– _____ (your name)

So there you go. Fill in the blanks, embellish, and/or simplify as you see fit. For a complete list of the tracks and sessions slated for Summit 2015, as well as a few other compelling reasons to attend (did someone say “Summit Bash”?!) click this lovely green button.

Summit 2015 agenda

(And drop a comment letting me know how it goes, would ya? )