Traveling To Leadership Day
Financing Your Trip To Leadership Day
While there is no registration fee for active ASM members to attend Leadership Day*, attendees are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses. These expenses are generally reimbursed by the attendee’s employer or the local Chapter.
*While co-located and hosted during the IMAT conference, IMAT conference registration is not required to participate in Leadership Day. Please note that IMAT registration is also not included as part of Leadership Day attendance/registration. If an attendee wishes to take part in the IMAT conference, they will need to pay and register to participate in that event separately. Please register for Leadership Day prior to IMAT if attending both events.
Seeking Employer Support
We encourage all attendees to first seek the support of their employer. ASM’s status as a non-profit organization, Leadership Day’s emphasis on officer training and soft-skills, and its co-location with IMAT allowing for technical training and networking can often aid in receiving employer assistance. Below is a justification letter template that you can download and customize to initiate the conversation with your employer.
Local Chapter Support
If receiving no or only partial employer support, the local Chapter generally will reimburse their attending representative. Chapters are encouraged to set aside funding to support their involvement in Leadership Day.
ASM Travel Grants
A limited number of travel grants are available. Grants are intended to aid those Chapters who must fulfill the attendance requirement but who would suffer financial hardship covering the full cost of their rep to attend. Grants are offered to help offset travel, but not necessarily cover it completely. Please see below for full grant details.
Grant Rules & Procedure:
Only Chapters in Good Standing who are required to attend and have total assets of less than $35,000 (USD) (based on the most recently submitted financial report) are eligible to apply.
Only one grant will be issued per Chapter. The grant can only be used to cover the expenses associated with one representative.
The individual requesting the grant must be an active ASM member and a local Chapter officer.
Grant applications must be submitted at least 30 days before Leadership Day is held.
Grants will function as a reimbursement for up to $2,000 to the attending individual and be issued after the event is held.
After the event, an Expense Report (template provided by ASM) must be submitted with all original receipts (clearly showing payment and vendor) attached. ASM cannot issue a reimbursement if a receipt is not attached (Credit Card statements are not accepted in place of a receipt).
Only four types of expenses are eligible for reimbursement under this grant:
Airfare, train travel, taxi, ride share that supported your travel to/from the Leadership Day host city. NOTE: If you are planning on driving (either via personal car or rental) from your home to the host city, please contact us before submitting the grant request.
Parking (such as at an airport).
Up to two days of lodging at a reasonably priced hotel.
1 taxi/ride share/public transportation trip to your hotel from an airport/train station and 1 taxi/ride share/public transportation trip to the airport/train station from your hotel.
NOTE: Miscellaneous travel within the host city, entertainment, and any food/beverage is not covered by this grant. These expenses must not be submitted on the expense report. Please note that ASM will not reimburse extravagant expenses (e.g. first-class plane tickets, private rooms or “sleepers” on trains, suites at hotels, etc.)
The grant application must be filled out and submitted by the individual who is traveling to and attending Leadership Day. No one should submit on behalf of another individual.