Before You Ask for a Conference Budget, Put Three Conversations on Paper.

Two things media buyers say about conferences, and both are true.

The first is a preference: not two days of inspiration, three conversations with people who actually do this. The second is about the "convince your boss" templates events hand out. A media buyer wrote it exactly: "my boss would laugh me out of his office if i sent him one of these lol."

So here's a way to make the decision that doesn't get laughed at, and it works whether the company pays or you do. It has three parts: the conversations, the cost, and the share-back. And you can do the first part before you've decided anything.

Part one: three conversations, on paper

Not "networking". Three specific conversations and what each one is for. It's an optional planning device, not a booking system, and it turns a vague wish into something you can evaluate.

For a buyer, a working version looks like this. One brand or offer owner in the category you run, to understand the economics behind the target you're held to: what the product's margin is, what a customer is worth to them, why the allowable cost is what it is. One platform exhibitor, to ask the question you keep getting generic advice about, in person. One buyer or operator at a different scale or in a different model, to compare how they test and what they'd stop doing.

For Affiliate Grand Slam, Rome, 2 to 5 November at Fiera Roma, the first two kinds exist by name today. TikTok, Meta and Google are exhibiting with staff on the floor. Direct advertisers and offer owners are confirmed, TerraLeads among them, and marketplaces and networks alongside, ClickBank, Digistore, MaxWeb. On stage, operators who run businesses that buy customers: Nick Shackelford of Brez, Marisha Lakhiani of Mindvalley, Dayu Yang of EcommOps. The AGS Rome 2026 Welcome Kit for Media Buyers groups all of them by what they do, so the three conversations are chosen from a real list rather than a poster. They stay targets until someone accepts a request.

Part two: the whole cost, not the ticket

This is where most requests fail, and most self-funded trips overspend. The pass is only part of the bill. Transport, accommodation, local travel, meals, any fees, and the days away from live campaigns, which in early November is a real cost for anyone running ecommerce spend into peak.

The kit's Best Value for Money Guide is built for this, for both funders. It compares the passes against the three conversations you wrote down, with current prices and inclusions, and says plainly when the entry pass covers the plan and when an upgrade adds something relevant. It gives you a full-trip budget with your own estimates in it. It has a plan for cover, handover and escalation on the campaigns you'd leave for a few days. And it has a relevance check that's allowed to conclude "not this trip", which is the thing a brochure never says.

If you're paying yourself, the guide also asks you to set a personal ceiling before you look at options, so the decision is made by the plan and not by the checkout page. A media buyer wrote the situation this is for: their company wasn't going to pay, so they were considering paying themselves. That's a legitimate route. It deserves a proper budget, not a shrug.

Part three: the share-back, and the memo

The line that makes any attendance request accountable is the one that says what comes back. A media buyer wrote what that should look like: "stuff I can take back to the team and say 'hey gang, let's test/implement this.'" One proposed test. One thing the team will use. Committed to, in writing, with a date.

Here's what the memo looks like. This is an illustrative excerpt; the complete pre-filled version is in the kit.

I propose attending AGS Rome, 2 to 5 November, to investigate [team priority] through conversations with relevant exhibitors: [offer owner or brand in our category], [platform exhibitor], [operator at a different scale]. Intended takeaways: how [category] businesses set allowable acquisition cost, and one platform question we've been unable to resolve through support. I'll share the findings and one proposed test with the team the following week.

Cost: [pass tier and price], travel [ ], accommodation [ ], time away [dates], with [named cover] handling live campaigns and [escalation route] for anything urgent.

Two paragraphs. The event facts, the dates, and the pass options are pre-filled in the kit's version; you add the priority, the three conversations, your costs and your cover. It doesn't sound like a trip because it isn't presented as one. It's a plan with a share-back, and a manager can assess it on relevance, budget, timing and cover, which is what they're actually checking.

What happens after yes

Purchase the pass. When the Match App is available under it, request the three conversations, and a couple of backups. Some accept; some don't. The accepted ones are what you prepare for, and the floor and sessions are for the rest. Then the share-back, on the date you committed to.

The decision, either way

You should finish this page knowing how to make a better attendance decision even if you never buy a pass: three conversations on paper, the whole cost next to them, one share-back. The kit gives you the list, the guide and the memo in one place.