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Champions: Nevada Regional Technical Center DECA members win at International Career Development Conference
Four students from the Nevada Regional Technical Center DECA chapter recently joined more than 14,000 high school marketing students at the annual International Career Development conference held April 23-28 in Louisville, Ky., and came back winners, with a team of three of them bringing home a first-place trophy and another competitor with a solo project bringing home an 11th place.
The team of Tyler Dobson, Josh Newman, and Ross Wolfe placed first in the Virtual Business Sports Challenge. The Nevada VBS team competed with seven other top tier teams from Canada and the United States in a double elimination format.
In the finals, teams competed in intense 15-minute interactive sessions with real-time results posted at the end of each round. The challenge was to manage a professional football sports franchise through one full season making decisions evaluating stadiums and city locations, controlling stadium operations and staffing, finding sponsors and licensing deals, media planning, promotions, ticket pricing and player management. Even though the game is complex and fast-paced, the goal is simple -- the team with the highest profit at the end of the season won.
The young men from Nevada qualified for the right to compete at ICDC through an online challenge held during the month of January. During this challenge, they were competing with thousands of other teams from throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. They ended the January challenge first in Missouri and first in the Central Region, which consists of 13 states.
As the DECA International first place winner, they will share a $1,000 scholarship.
Dominic Habjan also competed ICDC in the category of Virtual Business Retail Challenge. He qualified for the opportunity by finishing first in Missouri and second in the Central Region during the January virtual online challenge. In a field of 16 teams at ICDC, Dominic finished 11th. Virtual Business Retailing is centered on a highly visual computer simulation of a convenience store. Students learn and practice all the key business and marketing skills they'll need to succeed in business. He had control over store location, pricing, inventory, promotion, merchandising and market research. The team finishing with the highest total profit won.
"Qualifying for DECA's international competition was a tremendous honor for each of these students," said Martha Cubbage, NRTC marketing instructor/
DECA advisor.
"All of them have worked with the simulation software throughout their junior and senior years as students in my Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Entrepreneurship or Advanced Marketing courses."
The Virtual Business Simulations were created by Knowledge Matters, a leading developer and publisher of simulation-based business and personal finance curriculums for high schools. Founded in 1997 by Peter Jordan, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the Massachusetts-based company's simulations have been used by more than 1 million students in more than 5,000 high schools.
"I am so proud of each of these young men. Through this experience they learned so many valuable life skills that will serve them well regardless of which career path they choose," says Cubbage. "Teamwork, time management, critical thinking and flexibility were just a few. They especially gained an important lesson in perseverance."
Cubbage says that a defeat in the semi-finals for the Nevada VBS team was a catalyst for her students.
"That bump in the road gave the team the clarity to examine what had worked and what needed to be changed," she said. "Coming back to the finals on Monday, they had a clear idea of the strategy and actions it would take to win. That's exactly what you would do in the real world of business and that's exactly what they did here."
In addition to the competitions, the students enjoyed the opportunity to meet fellow DECA members from all over the globe, including every state in the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
"They experienced a wealth of cultural and international diversity that can only be discovered by venturing out into the world," noted Cubbage. "What an incredible way for them to end their high school years and start their adult lives and careers."
One of DECA's primary goals is to provide its members with a first-class experience when they attend any DECA conference -- something like the ideal business trip. Facilities, activities, and food are always of excellent quality. Many students have never traveled, flown, or stayed in a hotel before a trip to a state or national DECA conference.
While attending this year's conference, the Nevada group also experienced horse races at Churchill Downs, toured the Louisville Slugger baseball factory and museum, attended a Louisville Bats minor league baseball game and enjoyed a concert by the country music group Lady Antebellum.
The DECA competitive events are designed to contribute to the development of competencies needed for careers in marketing, management and entrepreneurship, to motivate students to assume responsibility for self-improvement and self-discipline, to assist students in acquiring a realistic self-concept through individual and group activities and to provide visibility for the educational goals and objectives of marketing education.
Cubbage, and her husband Steve Cubbage, Nevada R-5 school board member, accompanied the students to Louisville.
Many family and friends turned out for a welcome home celebration at the Nevada Regional Tech Center as the Nevada group returned home from their trip on Wednesday, April 28.