Case Study: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory achieves streamlined conference management with Smartsheet

How Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory organizes global conferences

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a Department of Energy research lab with more than 3,200 scientists, needed to manage the complex process of sending over 3,000 researchers to conferences each year. The work involved multi-tiered approvals, per diem and travel rules, cost estimates and reimbursements — processes that were getting lost in emailed Excel files and were not well supported by collaborative tools like Google Sheets.

By adopting Smartsheet, LBL created a centralized repository for conference requests, used drop-downs and formulas for quick budget estimates, and established a single source of truth for approvals and attendance tracking. The result: mock budgets that take minutes instead of hours, clearer categorization of allowable vs. non-allowable expenses, fewer scattered spreadsheets, and improved transparency, consistency, and confidence that records are up to date.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Tom Gallant

Senior Administrative Supervisor in the Physical Sciences divisions