Which events are worth the budget in a first year, and which can wait?

I would go to the conference, and I say that as someone who went in my first year knowing nobody. Two days of hearing what other organisations were worried about gave me a map of the profession that I could not have got from a workshop. I picked sessions outside my own area on purpose.

Whichever you choose, a one-day workshop on market pricing or range design is the one thing I would not drop. It is the only format where you do the work with your hands.

I would skip the big-picture talks on the future of reward in a first year. Interesting, but nothing you can use on Monday.

Check the online sessions before you spend anything. A good number are included with membership, and the recordings stay available. I watched six in my first year for nothing.