Competitive Events Update

Get a head start on the 2024-2025 competition season with DECA's competitive topics and resources for business operations research, professional selling, hospitality and tourism professional selling and financial consulting.

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BUSINESS OPERATIONS RESEARCH EVENTS

The 2024-2025 topic for each career category is the development of a strategic plan to enhance or introduce the use of AI in an existing business or organization. Participants will collaborate with a local business or organization to analyze current AI strategies and practices. Participants will then develop and present a strategic plan for AI usage.

FINANCIAL CONSULTING (FCE)

For 2024-2025, you will assume the role of a financial consultant who works with student-athletes. A potential new client, a college-level athlete who is receiving money from NIL (name, image and likeness) deals has scheduled a meeting with you to learn about how to get started with basic investing. The client would like you to explain different investing options to develop and build a financial portfolio.

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM PROFESSIONAL SELLING (HTPS)

For 2024-2025, you will assume the role of a sales representative for a company specializing in sustainable products. The purchasing manager for a local hotel chain has scheduled a meeting with you to learn about sustainable product options that can be integrated into any of their departments.

PROFESSIONAL SELLING (PSE)

For 2024-2025 you will assume the role of a sales representative of a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. A local small business owner has scheduled a meeting with you to see the potential benefits of adding a CRM platform to reach current and potential customers. The owner wants to learn how your CRM platform will engage customers to positively influence buyer behavior, build brand loyalty, and meet the business's goals.

Related Resources:

Entrepreneurship Challenge

DECA Presentations

competitive events 101

Intro Chapter Meeting

Intro to DECA

Pre-Competition Meeting

How to Host a Social

Click on the presentation name above to jump to that section.

COMPETITIVE EVENTS 101

PREVIEW

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*The Google Slides and PowerPoint versions each have presentation notes in the notes section of each slide*

INTRO CHAPTER MEETING

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INTRO TO DECA

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PRE-COMPETITION MEETING

PREVIEW

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HOW TO HOST A SOCIAL

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Practice Testing

DECA's Written Event Guidelines - Printout Versions

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Related Resources:

Guidebook for Chapter Campaigns

Related Resources:

Statewide Community Service Campaign

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Scholarships: Another Amazing Benefit of DECA

DECA provides its members with #Limitless opportunities, however many of these unique offerings are merely overlooked. A little-known fact is that DECA Inc. and Texas DECA offer over a combined $300,000 worth of scholarships to members every year, yet so many students do not realize how easy it is to apply. To better help you understand the scholarship application process, check out this article and the attached resources.

Like mentioned above, Texas DECA offers individual scholarships available only to its members. To apply for the Texas DECA scholarships, members must visit www.TexasDECA.org and then visit the “Advisor Resources” page. There, members will click on the “Texas DECA Scholarship Application” tab and complete the application. This application is just a few pages long and asks a handful of short-answer questions regarding the member's involvement with school, DECA, and their community. If selected for an interview, students will be assigned an interview time at their respective District Career Development Conference, and if they are chosen to advance to the next level, they will have a final interview at Texas DECA’s State Career Development Conference. The deadline to submit your application for the Texas DECA Scholarship is Two (2) weeks before your District CDC.

In addition to the scholarships offered by Texas DECA, DECA Inc. provides a plethora of scholarships to all members. To apply for DECA Inc. scholarships, members will create an account on DECA’s scholarship website which can be found here. Once an account has been made, members will fill out a form which collects general information about involvement in school, DECA, and their community. Once this is completed, members will have access to a portal where they can select scholarships which they would like to apply to. From there, applying can be as easy as checking boxes next to interests and hobbies to writing a short essay over career ambitions. After a member has applied for scholarships, DECA Inc. will contact that student with updates on application status. DECA Inc. has provided a neat flowchart that helps students decide which scholarships would be best for them to apply for. The flowchart can be found here. If you have further questions about DECA Inc. Scholarships visit the Frequently Asked Questions page here.

There are so many opportunities to take advantage of in DECA. Applying for DECA scholarships is a great way to earn money for college continue to pursue your goals and dreams after high school.

BY: LUCIOUS MCDANIEL

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Increasing Your Professional Membership

Professionals in our school, community and state sometimes may not be as tech savvy as those of us in high school. When seeking out to possible professional members, you should tell them ways that they can benefit from becoming a professional member. Having events specifically for your professional members is a great to make them feel special and be more than excited to join the next year!

Many professional members can consist of business owners, meaning they need to know how to market to those who use the most powerful marketing weapon—social media. Hosting “Social Media Training” for these professional members can make them excited that you can teach them something you’re a professional at. Teaching them about ads on social media platforms, custom filters on snapchat, when the perfect time to post on social media and websites such as Hootsuite.

Inviting professional members to your District CDC helps them understand what DECA is about and experience the passion many students have for this organization. Professional members could judge at your District CDC or just help with checking people into their event. If they decide to help in any way, make sure to give them a thank you note or a nice little gift.

If your chapter does partnerships or sponsorships with different businesses in your area you can sign them up as professional members as part of that benefit so that they get DECA Direct articles and find out more about the organization.

REMEMBER: Professional members can be anyone; moms, dads, teachers or any adult that would like to be a part of DECA. It is important that we keep professional membership in mind to reach 15 by the 15th for 15K!

BY: DAISY PORTILLO

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Fun Fall Fundraising

Does your chapter need some extra funding to do more activities together while in Dallas for State CDC? If so, here are a few fall fundraising ideas to help you get a head start!

Set up a booth at a local fall festival! If your town hosts a fall festival, see if your chapter can rent some booths to make some easy money. At the booths, you can sell fall-themed treats, have fun games, or even hold a photo booth, and at each of the activities you can charge a dollar or two.

There is nothing more enticing than some sweet treats! Some bite-sized, fall themed treats that you could sell at your booth may include, candy apples, bags of popcorn wrapped in green tissue paper made to look like ears of corn, or even harvest hash chex mix. All of these options are yummy snacks that have shown to be successful sellers!  

Thinking about going the game route for your booth? One idea is a fun family friendly game named “The Trick-or-Treat Wheel”. This game requires two bowls, one bowl labeled “Trick” (which will have easy challenges written on slips of paper), the other labeled “Treat” (which will be filled with candy). If the player lands on treat they receive a piece candy. But, If they land on trick, they will have to pick their challenge; if they complete the task correctly and entirely, they’ll get a piece of candy too!

Lastly, a photo booth is a super fun way to attract a crowd, and it is so simple to set up! To set up the booth, all you need to do is design a backdrop; hang fall garlands, add a leaf or two, and have some props that you can either buy, make, or get donated, and watch the participants do the rest! With a photo booth you’ll be the talk of the festival

If your town doesn’t have a fall festival, then you can always make and sell items, Homecoming is around the corner and your chapter could make mums and garters; your chapter could also make and sell fall themed deco mesh wreaths (these are fast, easy, and fun to make with your chapter) Lastly you can always host a pumpkin carving contest where participants purchase the pumpkin from you and at the event they compete with others to carve the best pumpkin- and the winner would get a prize! The opportunities are endless when it comes to fundraising. Now it's your turn to go out and put the fun in fundraising!

BY: ALEXIS WESTERN

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Five Chapter Bonding Ideas

Bonding is a great way to grow as a family. Arranging social time doesn’t have to be overly complicated or extravagant. Applying these strategies and ideas to your own chapter will truly pay off. So, what are you waiting for? This year help your chapter become a team!

1) Meet & Greet - There are two parts to this plan. First, your own officers should know most your members, if not, make it a priority to get to know them! This helps with adding that personal touch, and letting your members feel involved. Next, a more elaborate plan would be to get to know your neighbors, DECA neighbors. Bring the whole family and have a pizza party!

2) Breakfast Feast – “The way to someone’s heart is their stomach”. This activity is all about having a delicious potluck! Have everyone bring a dish or drinks of their desire. Remember just mingle and make some new friends!

3) #DECAHalloween – This contest is for those who enjoy competition and love a twisted traditional pumpkin carving. Here’s the plan, have everyone bring their own Pumpkin, meet up at the local park (or the place of your choosing) and carve on! Link to the official carving contest and registration: http://www.decadirect.org/2017/09/29/2017-deca-pumpkin-contest/

4) Sharing is Caring – Getting community service hours with your friends? Yes, please! It’s up to your chapter to find a place, volunteer, receive hours, and at the same time work with each other to reach the same goals. It’s all about putting yourselves out there!

5) Anytime, Anywhere – If you want to take a more relaxed approach to an planning an event: here is the way to go! Meet up at your local coffee shop for lattes, or go for a slice of pizza down the street. The possibilities are endless!

The purposes of chapter socials are to have fun, make new friends, inspire one another, and to attack this year as a team! Be Limitless with your chapter socials this year!

BY: JESSICA GALLARDO

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Fall Community Service Activities

The new DECA season is now beginning! As fall begins and Thanksgiving approaches, it's a great time to participate in some community service with your chapter. Here are five Fall Community Service Activities:

1) Thanksgiving Food Drive - Many families aren't able to afford wholesome meals on Thanksgiving. Host a food drive at your school and rally your DECA chapter to help collect various canned goods to help families who need it.

2) Hurricane Help Silent Auction - Hurricanes have devastated our country during the past month. Talk to various clubs within your school and ask people to donate items for a silent auction raffle.

3) Book & Toy Drive - As the holiday season approaches, there are many kids who could use an extra smile. Everyone has old toys and books lying around. Host a book and toy drive at your school by leaving collection boxes around your school and asking people to donate.

4) Blanket Drive - Making blankets is always a good way to bring a little joy to the lives of those who need it. Project Linus is an organization dedicated to helping children in hospitals feel safer and more comfortable. Purchase low-priced fabric from any craft store and challenge your DECA chapter to see who can make the most blankets!

5) Sock Drive - I love socks. Everyone loves socks. Where would we be without them? There are many people who have never felt the joy of fuzzy socks. Ask friends, family, and people at school to donate socks. It can even be a part of your chapter's community service campaign! Let everyone feel the joy of fuzzy socks.

BY: SARAH JOSHI

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Marketing Your Next Chapter Meeting

School is back in session, and so is DECA. Our main focus is to obtain new members. Being that meetings are where new members can get information, we need to inform students where to learn about DECA. Here are some ways to market your chapter meetings:

• Announcements and Flyers: this is an old school way of doing things, but it works. If your school does announcements, send in a script to the school office. When writing the script it should be quick and to the point, like "Don't forget to come to room #001 and discover all of the opportunities DECA can offer you!" When using this tactic be sure to have an announcement every day the week before the meeting. Flyers are a great option as well because students can read them while waiting in lines or walking in the hallway.

• Social Media is a fun and interactive way to publicize your next chapter meeting. Using social media such as Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat can set you apart from other chapters because you get to create the design however you would like. If you want to make an eye catching design you could use Canva to make all sorts of designs for Instagram or Twitter, as well as Snapchat geofilters. When posting on Twitter or Instagram you should tell about the meeting three or four days ahead of the date and the day before. Snapchat, on the other hand, needs to be done the night before and the morning of the meeting.

Have fun marketing your next meeting!

BY: ALEXIS WESTERN

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5 Easy Ways to Fundraise for your Chapter

Do you want to go somewhere fun while in Dallas for State CDC or do you want to do extra activities while in Orlando for ICDC? If so, you might need some extra money for your chapter and one way to do all of the extra activities is to fundraise. Here are five easy and effective ways to fundraise for your chapter.

1. Movie Night - Organize a viewing of a movie that everyone can enjoy either at your school in the gym, where your school’s theater department performs, or you can team up with a local cinema and get a discounted rate for your students. If your chapter hosts this event at the school your chapter can also run the concession stand to sell candy, drinks, and popcorn.

2. Teacher Challenge - Would you enjoy throwing a pie at your favorite teacher’s face? What about taping them to a wall? With this event ask some teachers, or even the principal, if they would be willing to help your chapter raise money and charge students one dollar for a pie or a strip of tape.

3. Dress Up Days - Do you enjoy wearing your PJs or hat? Well if so ask to host days where students can pay a dollar to wear PJs or their hats at school. Also, this event is very fun in December because your chapter can change it into an ugly Christmas sweater or hat contest.

4. Candy Grams - Want to send your friend some candy and a message? You can charge students a small fee to send out a personalized note and a piece of candy to one of their friends. Students can send as many candy grams as they want. Even teachers can join in on the fundraiser by sending grams to their students or fellow teachers. Also, this activity can be customized to fit holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

5. DECA Donuts - Who doesn’t like a good sugar packed donut to start their day off? Go to your local donut shop and tell them what you are doing and ask if there is any way that you could purchase in the donuts in bulk at a lower rate. Then have your chapter set up a table in the front of the school and sell donuts to students as they walk in, charging them about a dollar per donut.

BY: ALEXIS WESTERN

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Chapter Campaigns Explained

Always perusing growth within your chapter is the key to success. This fundamental of "always perusing growth" creates a strong backbone to keep your chapter growing and reaching new heights. For these reasons are why DECA makes it a priority to recognize and reward these chapters who practice these principles and successfully carry out these goals. DECA rewards these chapters in multiple ways. DECA awards certificates, pennants, plaques, and flags for proving that your chapter has shown outstanding growth and determination. Chapters can also be provided three spots to attend ICDC's Thrive Level Academy.

Sometimes, a few of us might get carried away in the individualistic competition aspect of DECA and forget to view your chapter as a team instead of your competitors. Chapter campaigns allow chapters to work together and each a common goal. It creates a sense of unity and teamwork. All of these campaigns rely on group effort and team coordination. For example, in the community service campaign, at least 75% of your chapter are required to participate in a single community service activity in order to receive this award. In another example, the promotional campaign requires that your chapter coordinate outreach activities to show your passion for DECA and to get your name out to the community, showing all that DECA is good for. This requires members to truly express and demonstrate the impact they have made on the community and how it has impact them.

Altogether, chapter campaigns will bring your chapter closer together, increase the presence of DECA in your community, and provide to be recognized and rewarded for your hard work and achievements. I strongly recommend that you encourage your chapter to participate in chapter campaigns for limitless opportunities for your chapter to grow and develop into a stronger and positive influence.

BY: KAITLYN SMITH

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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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