NSO Divisions

by Mel O'Donnell

On February 10, 2006, the Competitive Events Institute held its annual regional competition at the Harborside Campus. The day kicked off in the Culinary Archives Museum with opening remarks from Delta Epsilon Chi (DEX) Northeast Vice President Danielle Drapeau as well as the Rhode Island Delta Epsilon Chi State Officer Team. There was also a brief introduction of the judges. Overall there were 110 students in attendance from Johnson & Wales University, CCRI Providence, CCRI Warwick, CCRI Lincoln, University of Southern Maine, Macintosh College, and Endicott College.

There were 25 judges consisting of J&W faculty, alumni, staff, and industry professionals from such companies as 7-Eleven Inc., Target, The Hamlin Group, National DEX, and Everest Communications. This was the largest DEX competition held at Johnson & Wales. The guest speaker for the competition was Peter Konkle, Human Resources Director, 7-Eleven Inc., Great Lakes Division. He gave insight into his experiences and provided words of encouragement. “You get to define your own meaning of success,” says Konkle. “If you’re not happy, then you’re not successful.”

Throughout the day, students competed in such categories including travel and tourism, hospitality, restaurant and food service, retail, marketing management, and many others. The students also attended workshops which focused on interviewing skills, goal setting, event planning, and a ‘best practices’ marketing seminar.

In addition to these competitions, classroom competitions are held in ten to fifteen classes each winter term. Faculty members volunteer to run a case or project competition in their classroom and a winner is chosen. Some faculty members offer group competitions and the best group presentation is chosen as the winner.

As a result of these competitions 58 students from J&W will be attending the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) from April 21-26 in Dallas, Texas. At ICDC more than 2,000 college students compete in over 25 management and marketing role-play and business simulation events. This conference gives students an opportunity to network with professionals in their industry of choice as well as attend leadership workshops and a career fair. Each J&W competitor will be given a $400 scholarship and $500 travel monies. Top ICDC medalists receive an additional $500 scholarship. This is the largest group Johnson & Wales has sent in 5 years.