Students may compete in a MAXIMUM of two competitive events; one written event and one series event. See the conference registration guide for a list as to which events are considered written events and which events are considered series events. If a student chooses to compete in two events, BOTH events must take the same cluster exam. You will find a listing of each event and its corresponding cluster exam in conference registration guide.
*Note: For District CDCs and SCDC, the Corporate Partner Projects, Virtual Business Challenges and Stock Market Game do not count toward the maximum of two events. These projects take place outside of conferences unless students advance to ICDC to compete in these events.
California DECA offers multiple conference opportunities throughout the year. The focus is often either leadership, competition, or both. The California Association of DECA holds these conferences in the state of California and is responsible for the management and execution of these conferences. All registration is done through California DECA.
DECA, Inc. offers conferences all throughout the United States, such as the New York Experience, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Conference and Innovations and Entrepreneurship Conference. California chapters attend these conferences, but complete their registration through the national organization (except in the case of the International Career Development Conference, where individual chapters send all of their information to California DECA and California DECA registers the association). Most policies and procedures for DECA conferences are very similar to, if not the same, as California DECA policies and procedures. If you choose to attend any of conferences, please be sure to read all of the registration materials very carefully.
Most conferences focus on either leadership or competition, or some combination of the two. Conferences offer general sessions with keynote speakers, competition, testing, awards/recognition sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities. Agendas for most conferences can be found in the corresponding registration guide.
Students generally walk away with an increased knowledge of the business world, new friendships and connections, lasting memories, and more self-confidence. Conferences and competitions give students a chance to apply what they learn in the classroom while gaining valuable leadership and life skills.