Billing etiquette for a conference

Hello!

If you are attending doing “market research", I think it makes sense. However, since indeed it´s a bit of a grey area, I would also run it by them. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

If you are attending the conference solely to gather information, technically you are doing this as part of your research so I would expect you can bill it. If you would have attended anyway for other reasons, I would personally not bill it.

In any case, as mentioned by Ian it would be good to align with the agency to avoid any possible issues.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

Let's test this with a simple question: Would you go to the conference if it weren't for the job? 

• If so, that makes it a bit more difficult to isolate the real working hours
• If not, you have a good argument as to why you would charge the full time you're at the conference

In any case, you should reach out to the firm paying your bills and align - as suggested by the others. There isn't really a standard “billing etiquette”. Just make sure you have the answer to the above question in mind.

Hope this helps!

You should check with the client before billing them. If this helps in your research and adds value to your task,  client would be happy to oblige 

Thanks

Ashwin 

Hi there,

You need to check with your company! Find out their policy and bill accordingly.

Some good answers above around how to “test” if this is worth billing.

One additional thought - when billing hourly it can be good to provide an estimate upfront at least on the types of work being conducted to align expectations with the client. This avoids any potential misunderstandings on what would be billed.