Episode 47 | I Just Paid $3,500 for a Conference (and I'm Still Going)

September 30, 2026

Community Health Collective

Host: Jill Steeley

EPISODE OVERVIEW

Jill Steeley just registered for a November conference, added up the bill, and landed at about $3,500 before she'd learned a thing. And that's only half the receipt. The other half is what she calls the Monday morning problem: the conference ends, you go home, and on Monday morning you're alone with all those ideas and none of the help to do them. In this episode, Jill runs the full math on a conference versus the FQHC CEO Connect Bootcamp, walking through the direct costs, the time costs that never show up on an expense report, and the three things you don't come home with: implementation tools, someone to call, and content built for your health center. Then she flips it. Jill is still going to her conference, and she explains why the mistake isn't going, it's asking a conference to do a cohort's job. This one is for health center CEOs and senior leaders deciding how to spend a professional development budget in a year when the coverage cliff is on the calendar.

Highlights:

  • The full receipt on one conference, one person: about $3,500 direct and roughly $7,000 once you count time

  • A quick formula for pricing a day of your own time (annual salary divided by 260)

  • The five hidden line items: days out, the catch-up, no tools to implement, no one to call, and content that isn't built for your health center

  • The same math run on the fully virtual Bootcamp, including the surprise that the learning hours are about the same

  • Why conferences are great at connection and terrible at implementation

  • The one question to ask about your budget this year: which option changes my numbers by April?

  • Homework: find your last conference receipt and name one thing you changed because of it

Quotes from the episode:

"The conference ends, you go home, and on Monday morning you're alone with all of those ideas and none of the help to actually do them."

"The mistake isn't going to a conference. The mistake is expecting a conference to do the job of a cohort."

"I don't go expecting to come home with a plan, because I know I won't, and I've stopped being disappointed about that."

"It's not the content. It's whether you're by yourself with it afterward."

Mentioned in This Episode:

  • FQHC CEO Connect Bootcamp. A 5-month program that helps you build a profitable, reputable health center easier and FASTER than figuring it out alone. Enrollment is now open: www.fqhc-ceo.com

  • Get in touch with Jill: [email protected] or schedule a call with her here.


The Community Health Collective — honest conversations about the real barriers keeping health centers stuck, and what it takes to get unstuck. If this episode helped, share it with another community health leader. That's how we grow this collective, one connection at a time.

© 2026 Jill Steeley