The Collegiate DECA state Career Development Conference took place at Marriot Minneapolis Northwest Hotel Feb. 18 and 19. A team of four SMSU students, Kenneth Lam, Rodney Hoffbeck, Luther Brown and Peter Olojo-Nwosu attended and competed. All four SMSU participants qualified for the national conference occurring in Washington D.C. later this spring.

The conference offers competitions on many different subjects, fitting under four main categories of management, marketing, hospitality and finance.

For each category, participants are given a case study that they have to solve. Participants are then confined to a room without internet and given 30 minutes to come up with a solution and deliver a 15-minute presentation for the problem presented in the case study.

The presentation is judged by a panel that has experience in a field relevant to the case study. Once results are announced, finalists go onto a second round with a more difficult prompt and more judges.

As a team, Lam, Hoffbeck, and Brown took first place in the Marketing Institute Challenge. Lam, president of the SMSU chapter of Collegiate DECA, said he is “especially proud.”

Brown, a first time participant, took first in the individual round for sales management and third in the individual round for human resources (HR).

For the sales management round, Brown was given a car dealership that was looking to increase its sales without going outside of its normal services. Brown devised a manufacturer’s warranty plan for the dealership and won the round as a result.

Brown placed first in his first round of HR where he made a recruitment and detainment plan, but came out third overall after placing third on the next round of the HR competition.

“I was upset about HR and only getting third,” Brown said. “HR is where I come from and it’s what I enjoy the most. [The second round] took me out of my comfort zone. I had never worked with writing policy before.”

Brown enjoyed the event.

“I really like working in a group, but the good part about DECA is it gives you a chance to self-analyze,” Brown said. “You get a chance to use everything you learn at school. The competition is good to sense where you lie among other motivated individuals.”

On the individual level, Lam won first place in hospitality and tourism, and took first in a team event for international marketing with Hoffbeck. Hoffbeck was a finalist in the financial services in banking event. Olojo-Nwosu was a finalist in the travel and tourism event.

“At nationals, we will face all winners and finalists from other states in the same events,” Lam said. “There will be attendees from other countries there.”

The team is optimistic for nationals. They are meeting to go over case studies from other years together.

“We don’t exactly have a large group, and for us to do as well as we did at state, it really does inspire some hope,” Brown said.

SMSU Collegiate DECA will be attending nationals on April 16-19 in Washington, D.C.