The Southern California Career Development Conference, held from January 9th to 11th, was a booming success!
On Friday, we hosted our monthly Presidents’ Council meeting, informing them about what’s to be expected at the conference as well as other association information. After that, we hopped right into testing, with every member at the conference taking a 100-question competitive exam. To wrap up our first night, we had a thrilling opening session which ended with our annual SoCal’s Got Talent competition. We had four amazing contestants, but Nick Gottlieb ended up being SoCal’s “most talented” with his outstanding stand-up routine, giving Santa Monica the win for the fourth year in a row.

Saturday’s main focus was competition. Everyone completed their role plays either during the morning or afternoon session. The DECA Knowledge Test was administered between 9am-3pm for anyone who wanted to take it, so students could display their vast knowledge about the organization. Workshops were also held throughout the day so members could increase their knowledge about business basics and written events. To celebrate the end of competition as well as to encourage networking, Southern California DECA had its very own DECAlympics. Teams of 6 competed in a number of events in order to win tickets. These tickets, which could also be won throughout the conference, were used to vote for the president that they wanted to see pie’d in the face!

Sunday began bright and early at 9:00 AM for the Mini-Awards session, followed by the Grand Awards breakfast. Chapters said their final goodbyes to their fellow Southern California chapters and went on their ways home. After a full weekend of competition, fun, and new experiences, SoCal CDC left all those who attended with a combination of exhaustion, accomplishment, and fond remembrance of a great time.