By Yashitha chunduru
Texas DECA President, Coppell High School
With a new DECA year ramping up, choosing a competitive event can be an overwhelming task. With over fifty different competitive events to choose from in Marketing, Finance, Hospitality, Management, and Entrepreneurship, finding the right event can be challenging. However, there are a few steps you can take to make it easier for you to choose an event!
Role Play vs. Prepared Events:
The first thing you can do to narrow down your options is picking between a role play event and a prepared event. A role play event will usually consist of one role play at the District and State CDC level and two preliminary role plays at ICDC (as well as a third finalist role play for those who advance at ICDC). Role Plays can be characterized as made up scenarios that are modeled after the tasks and challenged within a corporation. You would be given a role play and have a set amount of time (10-30 minutes based on the event you choose) before you get to present your ideas to a judge. For example, in a Business Services Marketing role play, it wouldn’t be surprising to find a role play asking you to make a promotional plan for a new product. Role plays are broken down into instructional areas. These instructional areas are broad topics that your role play will fall under. For District CDC, your instructional area can be found ahead of time. Within these instructional areas, there are performance instructors. These PIs are the specific idea or skill that you have to show that you know through your role play. Along with the role play, you must take a one hundred question exam in your career cluster as part of a role play event. Role play events are recommended for students that can think quickly on their feet.
Here is a sample Business Services Marketing Role Play. It includes the competitor’s scenario, the judge’s scenario, and the rubric. Here is a sample Marketing Cluster exam.
In a prepared event, as the name suggests, you get to prepare for months before you present your final product to a judge. Based on the event you choose, you could be making a written proposal, a pamphlet, or a poster. These events usually take more research and preparation to excel in. If you’re the type of person that likes to walk into a presentation completely prepared with a thought out written paper and maybe a poster, a prepared event would be perfect for you!
How to Pick A Role Play Event:
If you are leaning towards a role play event, the next decision you should make is whether you enjoy working by yourself or with a partner. The Individual Series Events consist of fourteen different events to choose from. For these events, you have a ten minute role play preparation time and ten minutes to present your ideas to the judge (you also have time to answer the judge’s questions during these ten minutes). Individual Series role plays have five performance indicators that the judge grades you on.
If you think you would be more successful working with a partner, the Team Decision Making Events might be a better option. There are eight TDM events. For these events, you are given a thirty minute preparation time with your partner and a fifteen minute presentation time in front of your judge. You will have seven performance indicators.
Another option that is only available to first year DECA members is the Principles Event category. The Principles events are a great introduction to the DECA competition structure and are considered to be more foundational knowledge. You will have ten minutes to prepare and ten minutes to present in front of a judge. There are four performance indicators on a Principles role play. All Principles events take the Business Administration Core Exam.
After figuring out which type of role play event you would like to compete in, I would recommend looking through the different event situations and exams to figure out which cluster (Marketing, Finance, Hospitality, Management, and Entrepreneurship) you like the most. After this, you can decide which event you like the best and start preparing!
How to Pick A Prepared Event:
Prepared events consist of many different types of events that can be filtered into Written events and Professional Selling events. Your written component and presentation component are judged separately. The Business Operations Research events require students to research and come up with a strategic plan for the topic that year (the topic does change every year). There are four different BOR events that all have a maximum of twenty pages for your written entry. The Entrepreneurship events allow you to get a glimpse into various stages of the entrepreneurship process. There are six different Entrepreneurship events within the prepared events. For the Project Management Events, you are supposed to plan and manage a product. There are six PM events. There are three Integrated Marketing Campaign Events which require you to create a marketing plan. The IMC events also require you to take a one hundred question exam (like the role plays). Regardless of which of the written events you choose, there is a fifteen minute interview time where you will present your plan to the judge and they will have the opportunity to ask you and questions they have. These events can have one to three participants in a team.
All of the above events were Written Events. The Professional Selling events are considered a little different. These events require you to take a one hundred question exam. There is a prompt that changes every year for the Professional Selling Events and you are supposed to make a sales pitch to the judge based on the prompt. Visual aids and notes are allowed. You have fifteen minutes to present to the judge and answer any questions they might have. If you are a good test taker, but are still someone that likes to have a plan instead of thinking on their feet, this might be a good option for you.
While the process of choosing an event may seem daunting, remember that every event will teach you something new along the way! Good luck for this DECA year!
Check out this resource from Texas DECA to help you select an event if you’re still unsure!