Convince Your Boss

Look, we get it. You're sold. You've been sold since you saw the lineup (or the food pics from last year). But your manager needs a bit more than "trust me, it's gonna be sick." Fair enough. Here's your ammo.

Why WhatTheStack is worth it

WhatTheStack isn't your typical conference where someone reads their blog post off a slide deck. It's a single-day, multi-track deep dive into the things your team actually deals with - modern web architecture, AI/ML in production, infrastructure, DevOps, and the soft skills that keep teams from imploding. All of it, from people who've been in the trenches.

What your company gets out of it

Fresh technical knowledge, applied the next day

Your developer comes back with practical insights on topics like performance optimization, modern frontend architecture, backend scalability, AI integration, and infrastructure patterns. Not abstract theory - real approaches from engineers who run real systems in production. The kind of stuff that saves a team weeks of going down the wrong path.

Cross-stack perspective

Most conferences pick a lane. We don't. With 30+ talks across 4 tracks, your developer gets exposed to the full picture - frontend, backend, infrastructure, AI, and everything in between. That cross-pollination is how you end up with engineers who make better architectural decisions instead of just optimizing their corner.

Access to the people behind the tools

Speakers at WTS actively maintain production systems, frameworks, and widely-used open source projects. During breaks, lunch, and the afterparty, your developer can pick their brain directly. That kind of access doesn't come from a YouTube video.

Networking that actually matters

800+ developers, from juniors to senior architects, from startups to enterprises. That's a room full of potential hires, collaborators, and people who've already solved the problem your team is stuck on. Every edition, we hear stories of people finding their next colleague or their next solution over a beer.

Retention and morale

Let's be honest - developers who feel invested in tend to stick around. Sending someone to a conference says "we care about your growth." That's cheaper than a recruitment process. Way cheaper.

The numbers

That's less than a team lunch in most cities. For a full day of technical content, workshops, food, drinks, and networking.

What your developer brings back

• Practical knowledge on current best practices across the stack
• New approaches to problems your team is actively working on
• Connections with other engineers and potential collaborators
• Motivation and fresh energy (yes, that has ROI too)
• Notes, ideas, and maybe a few controversial opinions about tabs vs spaces

The email you can copy-paste

Not sure how to bring it up? Here, we wrote it for you. Just copy, paste, and hit send.

Subject: Conference request - WhatTheStack 2026 (Sept 19, Skopje)

Hi [Manager's name],

I'd like to attend WhatTheStack 2026, a software engineering conference in Skopje on September 19th. It covers the full stack - web, AI/ML, infrastructure, DevOps - with 30+ talks across 4 tracks, plus hands-on workshops.

The speakers are practitioners who maintain production systems and widely-used open source tools, so the content is directly applicable to what we're building. Topics like [mention 1-2 relevant areas for your team] are especially relevant to our current work.

The ticket is €50, which includes all talks, food, and drinks for the full day. There are also optional paid workshops available as add-ons. I'd be happy to share a summary of key takeaways with the team afterward.

Here's the website: wts.sh

Let me know what you think!

Volume discounts

Sending a group? We offer volume discounts and invoicing for teams. Reach out at what@wts.sh and we'll sort it out.

Still need more convincing?

We can't help you there - but last year's talks on YouTube might. Show your boss a few of those and let the content speak for itself.