The HOW Design Conference is known for its motivational effects, and after spending four days learning from the smartest and most creative minds in the industry, you'll return to the office totally rejuvenated.

But the HOW Conference is also overflowing with concrete information that can have a positive effect on your—or your company’s—bottom line. And that’s the kind of information your boss is looking for when she asks “Why should I send you to the HOW Design Conference?”

If you need help talking to your boss about HOW, click here. We’ve supplied email text you can copy and send directly to your boss to get the conversation started.

If you want to take a less formal route, check out the list below. We took all the tangible, bottom-line-boosting benefits of attending the HOW Design Conference and collected them in one place. Use them to craft your own email or, better yet, schedule a meeting with your boss to start talking about the HOW Conference. Look for even more detailed information this winter.

• You get to develop your own program. We've tagged all of the sessions on the 2010 HOW Conference program with the specific design topics they cover. You'll be able to target at a glance the information that matters most to you, whether you're looking for software instruction, creativity tips or business and career advice. If there’s a specific topic you’re particularly interested in, or a skill you’d like to improve, just select those sessions. You can follow one particular focus for all four days, or choose sessions from several categories to get the laser-targeted information you want.
• The HOW Conference is an investment for your company. You’ll learn skills that will have a lasting effect on your work, from increasing your productivity and learning to do more with less to expanding your design skillset to include new software and digital design techniques. You’ll pick up plenty of tips and advice that will provide instant gratification, but you’ll also learn to be a stronger, smarter, more marketing- and business-savvy designer.  
• HOW Conference speakers are experts. We hand-pick the best and brightest in their fields to share their expertise with you. You won’t find information this specific, on this many graphic design topics, anywhere else. And HOW Conference speakers are approachable. If you've got follow-up questions after a session, you'll have plenty of opportunities for further discussion with the speaker.
• HOW covers all the bases. From creativity to business to the latest technology, the HOW Conference program covers every facet of graphic design in one four-day event. You’ll get real-world information and processes you can put into practice as soon you get home, balanced by inspirational work from industry stars and up-and-coming designers—and you won't have to travel to several different events to get the info you need. 
• Get the best information on the newest design software. Software gurus—many of them actively involved in software development—will explore all the bells, whistles and practical features of the newest and best design software. They’ll help you make the most of your current design tools, too, even if you can’t upgrade to every new version.
• You’ll learn how to save your company money. In the Resource Center, you’ll meet new vendors with new solutions (and maybe even better pricing). This is all the information you can put to use when you have to negotiate the purchase of new products, services or printing. As a bonus, you’ll head home with armfuls of free samples—information to fuel a future project or inspire a new production process.
• You’ll learn how to make the most of the resources you already have. Whether you want to inspire your co-workers to greater heights of innovation or need to get by on an older version of design software, you’ll learn tips for capitalizing on your current resources.
• It’s a networking opportunity. Networking may seem like a personal gain, but there are plenty of ways your company can profit from it, too. You’ll find potential collaborators and vendor resources, people to help you overcome hurdles like designer’s block and technology problems, and an active and innovative idea network. And now that the Creative Freelancer Conference and In-HOWse Designer Conference will be held in conjunction with HOW, this truly is a once-a-year opportunity to connect with the entire desgn industry.
• Your tuition is tax deductible. All expenses of continuing education (including registration fees, travel, meals and lodging) taken to maintain and improve professional skills are tax deductible according to U.S. Treasury Regulation 1.162-5 Coughlin vs. Commissioner. 203 F2d 307.
• You can share the information with your officemates when you get back. Host an “everything I learned at the HOW Design Conference” presentation for your co-workers when you get home. All handouts provided at the Conference will be available online afterward—so you’ll have plenty of inspiration and information to share. You can even purchase MP3s of just about every session, so your colleagues can benefit almost as much as you did.  (Look for registration options that include the session MP3s for the best deal.)