Advisor Resources

DECA Guide

Century, Diamond, and Epic Chapters

Earn a Spot at ICDC

compete in the STOCK MARKET GAME

Participants in the Stock Market Game develop and manage all aspects of an investment portfolio including stock selection, buying and selling. The top 25 teams from each DECA region earn the opportunity to compete at ICDC.

September 9 - December 6 | Learn more here


compete in the virtual business challenge

VBC is a fast-paced, online simulation that challenges participants to operate a web-based business in one of eight areas. There are two qualifying rounds. The top two teams from each region in each round earn the opportunity to compete at ICDC.

Round 1 | October 15-25 | Registration Opens October 3 | Learn More Here
Round 2 | January 14-24


compete in a traditional competitive events

DECA offers 51 traditional competitive events to choose from. From role plays to prepared business plans, there’s something for everyone. For traditional competitive events, members will need to compete at the district level, advance to the state level, and qualify for ICDC at the state level.

check out the competitive events here


earn a gold certification in school-based enterprise

SBE’s earning a gold certification or re-certification have the opportunity to participate in the SBE academy and compete at ICDC. SBE teams can have up to two participants. To get certified, chapters must submit their certification paper by January 14. If you are eligible to attend ICDC, the SBE participants will give a presentation over the SBE.

Learn more here


serve as a voting delegate

Our Texas DECA leadership team take on the responsibility of identifying the next team of executive officers. This includes a combination of incoming/outgoing State and District Officers. Learn more about serving as a Texas DECA leader here.


complete chapter campaigns & earn thrive level

Meet the requirements of any two DECA Month Chapter Campaigns (promotional, ethical leadership, community service) or two categories of the National Membership Campaign and earn two allocations to attend the Thrive Academy at ICDC.

Learn more here.


complete the texas two-step campaign

Complete either a social OR community event with another chapter and earn the opportunity to apply for one academy spot. Complete both events and earn the opportunity to apply for two academy spots.

Learn more here.


participate in the case study challenge

Place in the top three in one of the case study challenges offered by Texas DECA and earn your chapter the opportunity to send members to an academy at ICDC.

Learn more here.


WHAT LEADERSHIP ACADEMIES DOES DECA OFFER?

THRIVE ACADEMY

ULTIMATE CHAPTER

Now it’s time to thrive with other high-performing chapters and continue to develop your toolbox of collaboration, communications, critical thinking, and creativity skills. Eligibility to attend Thrive is based on achievement in DECA’s Chapter Campaigns.

ignite academy

ultimate member

Ignite your spark for DECA! As an emerging leader, you have great potential to take advantage of all that DECA offers. Now’s your time to gain an edge as you learn how you can take your personal DECA experience to the next level and ignite your passion for DECA.

aspire academy

ultimate graduate

As you soon graduate, the sky is the limit for your aspirations. Do you know what to expect in college or how to be successful in your career? learn how to leverage your DECA experience to your advantage in college, interviews, and internships. Aspire to get on the fast track to college and career success.

elevate academy

ultimate chapter leader

Elevate your leadership in DECA by becoming the ultimate DECA chapter leader. Discover your personal leadership style and how you can use that to take your chapter to the next level. Now’s your time to elevate your DECA status from member to chapter leader.

 

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Competitive Event Allocations

all chapters will get up to 3 allocations per event. additional allocations will be scaled based on chapter size.

 

The allocation scale can be seen at the bottom of the page. Competitive event allocations are based on the HIGHER total number between the previous year’s final membership and the initial roster submitted by October 15th of the current membership year. See the chart linked below for your allocation based your previous year’s membership. Allocation numbers may increase based on membership numbers as of October 15.

Each individual in principles, personal financial literacy, individual series, or professional selling events counts as ONE allocation. Each two person team for team decision making events counts as ONE allocation. Each team of one to three people for the integrated marketing, operations research, entrepreneurship, or project management events counts as ONE allocation.

 

Allocations will be scaled based on the higher total number between the previous year’s final membership and the initial roster submitted by October 15th of the current membership year.

  • 10-99 Members: up to 3 per event

  • 100-149 members: up to 4 per event

  • 150-199 members: up to 5 per event

  • 200-249 members: up to 6 per event

  • 250-299 members: up to 7 per event

  • 300-349 members: up to 8 per event

  • 350-399 members: up to 9 per event

  • 400+ members: up to 10 per event

 

Principles of Business Administration Events (must be the first year on a DECA Roster)

PBM Principles of Business Management and Administration
PEN Principles of Entrepreneurship
PFN Principles of Finance
PHT Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
PMK Principles of Marketing

Financial Literacy Event

PFL Personal Financial Literacy

Individual Series Events

ACT Accounting Applications Series
AAM Apparel & Accessories Marketing Series
ASM Automotive Services Marketing Series
BFS Business Finance Series
BSM Business Services Marketing Series
ENT Entrepreneurship Series
FMS Food Marketing Series
HLM Hotel and Lodging Management Series
HRM Human Resources Management Series
MCS Marketing Communications Series
QSRM Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series
RFSM Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
RMS Retail Merchandising Series
SEM Sport and Entertainment Marketing Series

Team Decision Making Events

BLTDM Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making Event
BTDM Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making Event
ETDM Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making Event
FTDM Financial Services Team Decision Making Event
HTDM Hospitality Services Team Decision Making Event
MTDM Marketing Management Team Decision Making Event
STDM Sports & Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making Event
TTDM Travel & Tourism Team Decision Making Event

Integrated Marketing Campaign

IMCE Integrated Marketing Campaign - Event
IMCP Integrated Marketing Campaign - Product
IMCS Integrated Marketing Campaign - Service

Professional Selling Events

FCE Financial Consulting
HTPS Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling
PSE Professional Selling Event Personal

Business Operations Research Events

BOR Business Services Operations Research Event
BMOR Buying and Merchandising Operations Research Event
FOR Finance Operations Research Event
HTOR Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research Event
SEOR Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research Event

Entrepreneurship Events

EIP Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan
ESB Entrepreneurship Start-Up Business Plan
EIB Entrepreneurship Independent Business Plan
EFB Entrepreneurship Franchise Business Plan
IBP International Business Plan
EBG Entrepreneurship Business Growth Plan

Project Management Events

PMBS Business Solutions Project
PMCD Career Development Project
PMCA Community Awareness Project
PMCG Community Giving Project
PMFL Financial Literacy Project
PMSP Sales Project

 

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How To Make A Great Bulletin Board

Do you have an empty bulletin board in your school? Well if you do, fill it with the latest DECA news! Using a bulletin board will benefit you chapter by drawing more attention towards DECA. Here is how to make an awesome bulletin board to grab everyone’s attention.

Creating a bulletin board can be a lot of fun, but don’t forget the two main components! First, it needs to be, eye-catching; An eye-catching bulletin board will spark interest in every individual. Bulletin boards are a marketing technique that introduce new concepts in an exciting way. These displays appeal to the visual side of learning, they spark curiosity that will cause students to more likely to pay attention to the information being relayed. To begin creating a great bulletin board, start by getting butcher art paper for your background. I suggest white, blue, black, or red. Then get unique with how you choose to decorate the board, as well as what important information you want to get out to your school.

To make the board “eye-catching”, put photos of your chapter having fun time at conferences or at meetings, a shape made out of bulletin board paper, or have large letters that say the bullet points about DECA such as, traveling, competitions, and or business.

When arranging the photos, make them into shapes: the DECA diamond or spell out DECA. When deciding what information to put on your bulletin board keep it sweet and simple. You could put the date and time your chapter’s next meeting is, the location of our district, state, and international conferences, as well as where and who to talk to if someone is interested in joining DECA.

BY: ALEXIS WESTERN

How to Make Your Mock Conference a Success

As we all know, conference season doesn’t start until January – but that’s no excuse to put off practicing your events in a competitive environment! Chapters that host mock conferences often do better at ICDC (looking at you, Ontario) and have members who end up more prepared for the business world. The benefits of mock conferences can’t be overstated, so we’ve come up with 3 steps to help your chapter host one:

1. Plan out a date and location ahead of time.

This sounds obvious, but many times a conference has failed because officers didn’t coordinate a place and time for the practice proactively. A common misconception that prevents many chapters from hosting practices is that the conference needs to be as formal as a District CDC, when in reality the cafeteria works just fine! Dates for conferences should be announced at least 4 weeks ahead of time and confirmed with school administration. This way, the few hours of commitment on a weekend can be scheduled off for members, and scheduling conflicts can be avoided.

2. Find volunteer judges.

Judges don’t need to be business professionals – parents, teachers, and even upperclassmen with experience in competitive events are perfectly valid judges for a mock conference. Most parents and teachers are more than willing to help out, but it’s always a good idea to do something nice (i.e. buying coffee or providing snacks) for volunteers. Again, make sure to ask for judges ahead of time to make sure that there will be enough to judge all of the necessary events.

3. Make sure competitors are familiar with their events before the conference.

Although a mock conference is a great place for competitors to get accustomed to a competitive environment, it’s not the time for members to be familiarizing themselves with their events for the first time. At the general chapter meeting leading up to the conference, encourage members to check this to go over their event guidelines and performance indicators.

Bonus: Set up meetings to go over feedback forms.

After your judges have filled out an evaluation form, members might not know how to interpret their scores or improve in certain areas. Officers and upperclassmen can be put in charge of competitive clusters based on their experience in competitive events and go over evaluation sheets with members after the mock conference. This way, your members will know how to improve their performance before the next conference.

BY: EMILY GAO

 
 

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How to Manage a DECA Social Media Account

When it comes to marketing and branding, the importance of social media simply cannot be ignored. The possibilities of how to reach your target audience are endless, and in today’s era, media is the key to being effective and efficient in your marketing strategy. Now that we recognized the importance of social media, running a DECA social media page can be broken down in three simple steps!
 

1) IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS AND AUDIENCE

Identifying your goals on social media is extremely important when you are trying to develop a personal, chapter, district, or even association social media page. Establishing a goal allows for a reference to track your monthly progress, and it helps to give you a purpose when developing each month’s material.

Setting your target audience is also a crucial aspect in this process.  This allows you to personalize material each month to the trending interests of specific individuals; therefore increasing engagement numbers. The key to a successful social media page is keeping up with the latest tips and trends, so your page sparks an interest in whoever you are hoping to reach. By being relevant, you better your chances of a like, share or retweet.  Recognizing what material works also increases your page efficiency, therefore eliminating wasted time publishing unsuccessful material.

TIP: People like to stay updated and in the loop, but that can sometimes be very hard to do, while still being engaging, so to make it easier fill your social media page with things that are made to update and inform in a creative format such as infographics, images or even video!

2) MONITOR AND MEASURE WHAT MATTERS

Social media is competitive and saturated, so it is essential for you to test and track your results in order to identify the most effective strategies against your competition– which is why social media analytics are so important. By using analytical tools such as HootsuiteGoogle analyticsDrumUp to name a few, it allows you to track engagement numbers and isolate what material works for your page so you can continue with it. 

Some key things to track on your social media page: Likes, shares, retweets, engagement levels, how often you post, and lastly follower responses (tags/comments) The purpose of your social media page is to promote your brand and share it with as many people as possible in hopes they find it engaging, so by tracking the success of each article or post, you are getting direct feedback from your target audience so you can make adjustments accordingly.

As a page, it should always be a priority to increase follower engagement. One way to increase the involvement and followers is to personalize the page a little bit. Establishing more of a family environment allows your followers to feel a little more comfortable and like they belong when you go that extra mile to personalize the account.

Reminder: Don’t forget each form of social media attracts a different audience! So be diligent and do your research on where the majority of your target market is located (The NewsCred infographic located below is a great resource for demographics on each application.) Because of this, do not  be disappointed if success on one account receives more or less traffic/engagement than any of the others. However, do not let this information stop you from expanding your network onto another account.  It is always beneficial to be present on all forms of social media.

 
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3) HAVE FUN!

Your followers should always be a priority, but if you are not happy with the material you are posting, the truth is your audience probably is not satisfied either. Do not overwhelm your followers with repetitive and lengthy information. BE CREATIVE and remain consistent on all accounts! This is your opportunity to express what your business, organization, or your personal brand is all about! Relatable gifs, images, infographics, and pictures can be a great addition to your posts!

By implementing these three tips on your DECA social media page, one can almost guarantee your engagement and page awareness will increase!  Social media is an ongoing and strenuous task that requires a lot of research, documentation, and preparation but do not let that scare you out of pursuing a better media presence. The more effort you put forth, the larger the reward.

BY: MADELYNE ONSTOTT

 
 

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Advisor Emails from Texas DECA Staff

Forgot or Misplaced an Email?

Find a copy below!

2022-2023 deca year

 

Welcome Back Advisors! - August Newsletter
Original Sent Date: 8/3/2022
Meet the Staff, Advisor Resource Center, Texas DECA Fact Sheet & Scavenger Hunt, Escape Room, Case Study of the Week + Question of the Day, Case Study Challenge, Chapter Campaigns, Editable Resources, Chapter of the Year, Statewide Advisor Training

 

Check out what Texas DECA has coming up in October!
Original Sent Date: 10//2022

Check out what Texas DECA has coming up in September!
Original Sent Date: 9/1/2022
Meet the State Officers, Texas Talks - Student Newsletters, Submit your T-Shirt Designs, Chapter Packet Request, Let’s Talk About DECA Recording, 21-22 Event Data, Advisor Training, Bring a Friend Challenge, Case Study & Entrepreneurship Challenge, Advisor Resource Center, Chapter of the Year, Resources

 
 

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Texas DECA Advisor Resource Center

Check out our classroom/chapter resources. We’ve compiled over 2,000 resources and add more weekly!

The Advisor Resource Center is password protected. Texas DECA advisors can reach out by email if you need the password.

 
 

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texasdeca.org Scavenger Hunt Activity

Take a quick look around the Texas DECA website using this scavenger hunt activity. Click below to download the activity!

Answer key available to advisors through the advisor resource center.

 
 

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