Electoral managers meet at the regional and national level to look at electoral issues, to learn from one another and to prepare common solutions to anticipated problems. This type of meeting works very well in the run up to major electoral events. The only cost involved is travel. This common discussion of a problem enables it to be raised with the appropriate authority at the national or local level, on behalf of a group of electoral managers. These organisations publish newsletters so information can be exchanged at even less cost.
Regional meetings can also be the venue for specific training activities involving external sources.
Again, this is a simple and cost effective way of external training. Nothing is new, so the easy way to train is to copy that which someone else has already done. It is very easy on a national basis to arrange for staff to visit another electoral manager and work in that office for a week or so to see how problems are solved. This type of visit can often be arranged among electoral manager associations. Slightly more difficult is asking someone from another office to help with explanation and training of new processes.