Attendee Justification

DSET is much more than an event. It is a community that works throughout the year to enable excellent networking, identify opportunities, exchange of ideas and best practice. DSET also provides a peer-to-peer engaging environment that produces results to current challenges for all participants, Military, Government, Academia & Industry.

A unique event and community, designed to contribute to the advancement of Defence Simulation, Education and Training in the Armed Forces & Blue Light Communities. DSET is defined by Stakeholder input to meet current & future needs and is distinctively challenge-led.

Bringing a diverse set of speakers from allied nations to Bristol, DSET is now viewed as a key international event, an excellent opportunity for targeted engagement, networking and a learning opportunity that meets throughout the year.

With several associated specialist events and multi-track conferencing, DSET is there to answer more of the Military and Industry challenges.

However, justifying your attendance to your Line Manager with quantifiable returns on the investment, coupled with a potential strain on staffing, can prove challenging.

This page contains resources to help you create a business case for your attendance. Feel free to cut & paste, or paraphrase the content to suit your particular situation or needs.

Aim to focus specifically on what you as an individual can bring back to your organisation as a whole so that many can benefit.

Resources
Justifying time away from your desk:
  • Begin early! The more time you and your organisation have to prepare for your absence, the better.  It may also take time for approvals to process through your systems.
  • Register as early as possible to take advantage of early bird tickets for the event, hotel offers and reduced flight/rail costs.
    • N.B.: Currently serving full-time military, academia and government employees from global locations can attend DSET for free.
  • Download the Expense Calculator above to develop a cost estimate for attending.
    • N.B.: Refreshment breaks and lunch is provided to all attendees at DSET.
  • Create a plan that shows how your workload will be covered while you are attending the event.
  • Consider what insights and knowledge you can specifically bring back to your organisation.
  • Offer to prepare and deliver a training presentation to your colleagues to share what you learned and experienced.
  • If you are working to obtain or maintain your professional accreditation, event attendance with post-event reflection write-ups can contribute towards evidence and supervision documentation.

Quantifiable Benefits

It is important to engage with your Line Manager and help them understand the tangible benefits of attending DSET, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the event.  

Clearly articulate the connection between your organisation’s challenges and the DSET Programme.

Consider:

  • Your deliverables and tasking.
  • The challenges that delay or prevent that work from happening.
  • Explain where those challenges might affect Operational Capability (OC), efficiency and efficacy.
  • Explore possible solutions that are being addressed by the event sessions, workshops and exhibitors.

Include specific event details in your proposal:
  • Session content relevant to your organisation’s Area of Responsibility (AOR):
    • Specify relevant Topics, Papers and Workshops. The full agenda is usually available by April.  However, there are recurring themes year-on-year, such as Procurement, Wargaming, Data and AI, Talent Management, Emerging Tech…
    • Use previous DSETs as a guide: https://dset.co.uk/previousyears/ 
  • Speakers:
    • Specify those working towards a comparable OC in a similar AOR respective to their country or Government.
  • Exhibitors:
    • Highlight showcasing products and services for potential future use within your organisation.
    • Compare and contrast competing exhibitors in real-time.
    • Test and demo products live.

Here are the top DSET stats from 2024:

  • 70 exhibiting organisations across the live event and virtual platform
  • 1,700+ visitors across the week
  • 72% Military/Government/Academia
  • 28% Industry/Media
  • 450+ Organisations across the delegation
  • 44 countries represented

 

For 2025, and with the newly established DSET International Committee:

  • Wargaming will be a key focus, including game play festival and a dedicated conference track.
  • Expansion of academic conference tracks
  • Technical workshops
  • NextGen Talent Arena and Careers Fair
  • Sub-committees include: New Frontiers in Technology, Procurement, AI and Data challenges.

 

Qualitative Benefits

The networking value at events is a high priority for many people attending.  Especially when you will find other attendees with similar challenges and even those who have successfully overcome them. 

You may even discover challenges that you have yet to encounter, and you can proactively work to prevent them.

Broadening and diversifying your network will ensure you have a wealth of knowledge, expertise and support available to you, and ultimately your organisation. Those within a strong network are willing to exchange knowledge, resources and best practices to help each other, resulting in successful outcomes for their respective organisations.

  • Consider including an example of how networking was successful for you in the past or at other events.  
  • Prepare a contact plan, detailing how you will follow up on your encounters and explain the benefits of this activity. 

 

DSET Welcomes Attendees Globally! 

DSET is an international event and welcomes attendees from global locations.

In addition to the above resources to help you justify your attendance, we also understand that when visiting the UK for business purposes and/or government duties, you may be required to apply for a visa.

Please visit the UK government website to check if you require a visa to enter the UK to conduct business activities:

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Further information regarding visiting the UK as a Standard Visitor is here:

https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor

For overseas attendees who have been formally invited to speak in the programme, present or exhibit, we can provide a letter of invitation to help support your application. These are available on request by completing this form.  

Please allow 10 working days for processing.

International attendees should refer to Visiting the UK: guide to supporting documents

Exert from section 2:

“… you may want to provide documents detailing:

  • what you will be doing in the UK, the reason for your visit and whether any costs are being met, including any letters from inviting or sending organisations”

A letter from your employer – the sending organisation – may be provided to support your application.

Helpful Information for International Travellers

For assistance, please contact: [email protected]