About DECADECA is an international organization that aims to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs to be college and career ready. Through competitions and conferences, DECA strives to provide the necessary skills needed to ensure success later in life. |
How DECA Competitive Events Work
Portola Business members can participate in over 50 DECA events, from a variety of business fields. DECA is unique in that its focus is to go beyond just accumulating knowledge about business, but also to help develop 21st century skills that are a necessary tool for both college and the workplace.
Event Organization
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Number of Competitors: Events can be individual (1), team (2-3), or chapter (team of 2-3 leads project representing Portola) events.
Eligibility: Some DECA events are titled "Principles of" and these events are for those who are new to DECA. As a result, these events are limited to first year DECA members and are a great way to get started! Conferences: There are three conferences, the SoCal District Career Development Conference (regional), the California State Career Development Conference (state), and the International Career Development Conference (national). There are events at the regional conference to compete in, but unlike FBLA, how you do in these has no impact on your ability to compete at the state or national conferences. When you go to the state conference, everyone has a clean slate and the people who place at the state conference continue on to the National Leadership Conference. Due to this, the regional conference is the perfect place to get valuable experience and practice for the real competitions. |
Career ClustersDECA members compete in the five core DECA business clusters: entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, management, and hospitality.
These are the 5 most important Business Categories, and by competing in events that fall under these cluster, members are able to gain knowledge and real-life skills for the future. Also, competing in DECA events allows members to be able to combine many of these skills learned from the five clusters, allowing for the formulation of effective business strategies for real world business. |
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Roleplays
One type of DECA event is a roleplay event. Roleplays involve a mock scenarios, like an interview or a sales pitch. The process of the roleplay begins with prep time, a set amount of time given to the participant to read over the scenario and prepare notes. Then, the judge takes on his or her role, and the roleplay begins.
Due to the face-to-face nature of Roleplays, they help develop vital presentation and communication skills that are essential in the business world. Also, they help develop improvisation skills and creativity, as a participant has to think of answers to the judge's questions as they are asked.
Each Roleplay event also includes a cluster exam that tests for business knowledge of a roleplay participant based on what cluster they are competing in.
Due to the face-to-face nature of Roleplays, they help develop vital presentation and communication skills that are essential in the business world. Also, they help develop improvisation skills and creativity, as a participant has to think of answers to the judge's questions as they are asked.
Each Roleplay event also includes a cluster exam that tests for business knowledge of a roleplay participant based on what cluster they are competing in.
Writtens
Another type of DECA event are DECA Writtens, or pre-planned presentations. In this type of event, members as are tasked with writing a report or developing a presentation that they will president to a judge at a competition.
These usually tend to be over 10 minutes long, and are perfect for developing both writing and presentation skills. Also, their pre-planned nature can be perfect for learning how to make and deliver effective presentations, which are vital skills for the workplace.
These usually tend to be over 10 minutes long, and are perfect for developing both writing and presentation skills. Also, their pre-planned nature can be perfect for learning how to make and deliver effective presentations, which are vital skills for the workplace.
More Information
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National DECA Website
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California DECA Website
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