For years, the “How to get your manager’s approval” template has been a standard fixture across the events industry.
It usually takes the form of a static letter filled with broad value statements and generic language. While intended to help, it often requires significant editing and still falls short of reflecting the specific priorities, challenges, and responsibilities of the person submitting it.
For senior corporate event leaders, this approach no longer aligns with the expectations placed on their role. Time is limited, budgets are scrutinized, and attendance at industry events needs to be clearly tied to business outcomes.
Recognizing this gap, ELX set out to create a more relevant and effective solution.
For the ELX Annual Congress 2026, the team developed a custom GPT, designed to transform how members build internal approval emails. Instead of relying on a fixed template, members are guided through a structured process that builds a personalized, outcome-focused email based on their individual goals and responsibilities.
Rather than editing a pre-written document, members shape the content through their own inputs. The GPT builds the email around what matters most to them.
It focuses on three things:
This is paired with ELX’s actual session content, ensuring that the final message reflects real insights and practical takeaways rather than abstract benefits.
The result is an email that clearly communicates to a manager not only why the attendee wants to be there, but what they will return with and how that will support the business.
The experience is designed to be simple and efficient.
Members are guided through a series of structured prompts, many of which are directly tied to the event’s session content. Rather than asking attendees to write responses themselves, each prompt includes pre-loaded answer options that reflect the themes, insights, and outcomes of ELX Annual Congress. This allows members to move through the process quickly using a multiple-choice style format, without needing to spend time drafting or interpreting how to position their response.
Instead of writing paragraphs, attendees select from tailored inputs that shape the final output. These include:
• Manager priorities, outlining what their manager expects them to focus on in their role
• Attendee gains, defining what they want to get out of attending the event
• Their immediate focus for this specific event experience
• Post-event deliverables, highlighting what they will bring back and present internally after attending
• Airfare, which is used to calculate the total cost of attendance and is incorporated into the final email
These responses are then translated into a structured, professional email that reflects both the investment required and the value expected in return.
Each output is tailored to the individual, providing relevant context and clearly connecting their attendance to tangible business impact and organizational value.
The development process reflects ELX’s broader approach to innovation, with a clear focus on solving real challenges in a way that is both practical and grounded in how members actually work.
The initial concept was led by ELX CEO Nicola Kastner, who worked directly within ChatGPT to define the structure, tone, and logic of the tool. This included mapping the types of questions the GPT should ask, the flow of the experience, and how responses should translate into a compelling approval email.
This initial work produced a set of detailed instructions that served as the foundation for the build.
The ELX marketing team then developed the GPT further, refining the prompts, aligning the outputs with ELX’s voice, and tailoring the content specifically to ELX Annual Congress 2026. Testing was an important part of the process, with multiple iterations used to improve clarity, remove friction, and ensure that the final emails felt credible in a real business context.
The result is a tool that feels simple on the surface, but is carefully structured behind the scenes.
The approval email is becoming a more strategic communication tool.
Event professionals are increasingly expected to connect attendance to business priorities, define the outcomes they expect to deliver, and show how those outcomes will be applied after the event.
AI creates an opportunity to improve this process. It can help leaders move from generic justification to clearer, more outcome-driven communication.
This reflects the role event leaders play today. They are being asked to communicate value with greater precision, stronger business alignment, and a clearer view of impact.
And it starts with the first email.