Our group went to the Chicago conference this year and the PTO did pay for the attendance fees. Luckily, the conference is close to home so we didn't have the issues of paying for travel costs.

Our thinking was that we were going to improve the PTO and anything taken from the conference would be brought back and shared with the rest of the PTO. So, the PTO should pay for it.

At the general meeting shortly after the conference, the 3 of us that went each talked about the different topics we attended as well as other ideas/suggestions/etc that we came back with. We also shared all of the stuff the we received walking through the exhibits.

Thanks for the input our state pta is having a conf in the fall. I would like to attend but I wasnt sure how other pto handle paying for the conf fees and such. Thanks.

Cindy

Hi Cindy -

Our data shows that about 65% of attendance fees are paid for by groups. It's higher (about 75-80%) for attendees from groups that have attended in the past. That's because once a group sees all the great ideas and inspiration that come back from the events the first year, there's no longer any skepticism re: the value of the events.

What groups do with travel costs and overnight costs varies a bit more.

Tim

Though I have never been to a conference-most aren't close enough-I did attend a fundraiser sign on meeting. Since you had to attend to get the bonuses and it was a 3 hour round trip, the group paid for my gas (around $20) so that we could get around $1000 in bonuses. We did discuss the group paying for a room and food for 2 moms for a Box Tops Conference (free admission) because the city is 5-6 hours from here and we couldn't see driving that both ways and the conference in one day.

When you go to any of the conferences who pays do you pay on your own or does the pto help in anyway? I'm a new pres and just curious how other pto handle this situation.

Cindy