Convince Your Manager to Attend Explorance World 2026: Step-by-step Guide and Free Template

How Explorance World Delivers Immediate Value

Explorance World 2026 gives you practical tools and strategies to help your institution or company improve feedback programs.

Each session addresses key issues, including increasing survey response rates, leveraging AI-driven analytics, and building trust in feedback. By attending, you'll also get to network with industry leaders from higher education, HR, and learning and development.

This blog post gives you everything you need to convince your manager or organization to have you join this incredible event. From practical, role-specific selling points to a pre-formatted justification letter template you can download, it's your one-stop shop to lock in your attendance.

Key Explorance World Event Information

First, let's get specific about the event basics.

Here are all the key details, like where to go, when to show up, and what's included:

• Location: Boston University, George Sherman Union, Boston, MA
• Dates: June 16 (workshops); June 17-19, 2026 (main program)
• Theme: Wired to Know: Listening in the Age of Intelligence
• Price: Early Bird $599 per person, group passes are $1,198.
• Registration includes: all workshops, breakfasts, lunches, coffee breaks, two evening networking dinners, full access to the Explorance event app, and on-demand session resources.

Audience-Specific Outcomes

If your manager or organization is wondering what you'll actually get out of Explorance World, here's a look at how the event delivers practical wins, regardless if you work in higher education, human resources, or corporate learning and development.

For higher education leaders

• Improve course evaluation processes using examples from universities already delivering balanced, fair, multi-source feedback.
• Apply proven strategies to mitigate bias in student surveys, leading to more valid and actionable data.
• Create holistic evaluation frameworks that include student, peer, and self-assessment. Return with policy templates and rubrics ready to pilot in academic departments.
• Connect with institutional research peers, as well as those focused on similar challenges in quality assurance. Share problems and gather ready solutions for compliance, teaching effectiveness, and accreditation.

For HR and L&D leaders

• Move beyond compliance-driven employee surveys by discovering new ways to build engagement and trust, as demonstrated by top-performing companies.
• Use best practices for integrating continuous listening into your organization's feedback systems. See case studies that show measurable gains in engagement and retention.
• Attend workshops on identifying needs through feedback analytics, evaluate program ROI, and align with leadership priorities. Bring back dashboards and report templates already field-tested in mid-market and enterprise environments.
• Establish connections with HR and L&D counterparts, opening channels for benchmarking and future knowledge sharing.

What's New at Explorance World 2026

Here are some agenda highlights that showcase what's new and notable for Explorance World 2026, featuring prominent topics and leading organizations from both higher education and business:

• Opening keynote from Samer Saab, Founder and CEO of Explorance, challenging notions of traditional thinking. Title: What If They Never Answer Again? And What If It's Not a Crisis?
• Additional keynotes from feedback leaders:
  • Arvind Narayanan, Professor at Princeton University, will deliver the June 18 keynote, AI as Normal Technology.
  • Dr. Eileen De Courcy, Provost at Yorkville University, will share perspectives on educational leadership during her June 19 keynote.
  • Shawn Overcast, General Manager and Chief Insights Officer at Explorance, will close out the event with her new keynote, Bringing Human Touch to Technology.
• Expert-led sessions from top higher ed institutions:
  • University of South Carolina sharing how they unified feedback across eight campuses
  • The American University in Cairo detailing how to enhance teaching excellence
  • Harvard Medical School and California State Polytechnic – Pomona discussing strategies to foster a strong feedback culture
• Sessions led by global business leaders:
  • Allegion guides you through securing executive buy-in for learning programs
  • Cox Automotive demonstrates methods for tracking skill application post-training
  • United Rentals reveals benchmarking approaches to measure impact
  • Heartland Dental shares processes for connecting learning data to business priorities
  • GE Aerospace, Thermo Fisher, and Eastman Chemicals will lead L&D presentations on continuous improvement and scrap learning.
• Join panels and roundtables with voices from SDU University (Kazakhstan), Nanyang Polytechnic (Singapore), Cornell University, Johnson Controls, SourceAmerica, and many more.
• Participate in global, interdisciplinary discussions with summit presenters like Cencora, Thermo Fisher, McGill University, and the University of Newcastle.
• Dive into data and automation workshops, including hands-on time with Explorance Feedback Analytics, led by Chief Product Officer Zel Bedard.

Attendees will also enjoy evening networking opportunities, a Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays ticket raffle, and the return of the ever-popular Explorance World Event Night, taking place at Eataly Boston.

Real Attendee Experiences

Don't just take our word for it, either. Hear what attendees had to say about their experience at Explorance World 2025.

What You'll Bring Back

Let's talk about what you'll actually take home after the event. Here's what you and your organization can use right away.

For higher education

• Policy drafts for holistic evaluation
• Rubrics for self, peer, and student review
• Templates for "closing the loop" with students and faculty
• Strategies for increasing survey participation and mitigating bias

For HR and L&D

• Customizable dashboards for reporting feedback to leadership
• Tried-and-tested communication plans to boost engagement scores
• ROI tracking sheets connecting feedback data to business results
• Workshop outlines for in-house team training on survey design and analytics

All attendees

• Slide decks, session notes, and resource packages covering key methodologies
• New professional contacts organized by focus area (IT, faculty affairs, HR, etc.)
• Group action planning worksheets for immediate team application

Multiply the Impact with Team Attendance

Teams who attend together cover more sessions, report deeper insights, and accelerate project implementation upon returning.

With a group pass, you can:

• Organize your team into tracks (e.g., data analytics, compliance, teaching and learning, engagement)
• Share the cost advantage of group registration (get three passes for the price of two)
• Use the event app to coordinate which sessions each member attends and schedule daily debriefs onsite to discuss key findings

Addressing Common Manager Concerns

Even with all these highlights to present, managers will still have questions and concerns. But they don't have to be barriers to joining your peers at Explorance World.

Here are a few ways you can make those conversations easier, with answers that speak their language.

1. "Budget is tight this year."

Show how attending Explorance World consolidates multiple training and consulting expenses. All meals, materials, and resources are bundled with registration. Early Bird pricing and group rates lower the per-user investment considerably.

2. "Losing the team for multiple days creates risk."

Highlight that event sessions are recorded and resources are available after the event. Propose a work coverage plan. Commit to advance project completion, stagger attendance within the team, or rotate virtual participation if needed.

3. "How is this different from other conferences?"

Explain that Explorance World focuses on hands-on, actionable training, not just theory. Attendees can join practical labs on AI and analytics, work through actual policy documents, test solutions in real time, and have direct access to Explorance product and data teams.

All session outcomes map directly to skills and projects attendees can implement in their roles.

4. "How will we measure ROI?"

Propose setting up measurable goals: track one new feedback initiative, update policy with a template from the event, or increase response rates using new communication tactics. Offer to submit a 30-day post-event progress summary to ensure your newly-acquired knowledge and skills are paying dividends.

Practical Steps for Approval

If you want your manager's "yes," a little prep goes a long way.

Follow these clear steps to get your request noticed and approved.

1. Review the session agenda and select topics directly related to ongoing projects or strategic goals in your department.
2. Download and complete the Explorance justification letter. Customize it by highlighting pressing challenges and specific solutions the event provides.
3. List expected costs. Include registration, travel, and accommodation using official hotel rates. Group rates and early bird discounts give measurable savings.
4. Prepare your knowledge transfer plan. Suggest a post-event workshop, summary report, and sharing of all templates acquired.
5. Offer to track and report on the impact. Define one or more metrics to evaluate after the event (e.g., feedback response rates, time saved on reporting, successful policy changes, training completion).

Checklist for Your Approval Request

Before you hit send, do a quick scan of this checklist to ensure your request includes everything your manager wants to see.

• Session list tied to ongoing projects
• Detailed cost breakdown
• Knowledge sharing plan (e.g., team training, executive report)
• Direct link to registration and hotel options
• Customized justification letter template included
• Commitment to outcome tracking for 30 days post-event