By Josh George

Special Correspondent

Members of Nansemond River High School’s DECA club attended the Virginia DECA Fall Leadership Conference in Virginia Beach on Thursday.

Held at the Double Tree Conference Center, students attended four presentations given by Curtis Hayley, an Oregon-based senior program manager with TRI Leadership Resources,

The first session, An Introduction to DECA Role Plays, was a crash course in making the most of the DECA role-play experiences. Students compete in role-play events at the district, state and international level.

Written Event Success – the second session – gave students an opportunity to learn the tips and tricks that have allowed written event competitors to excel to the top.

An actual competitor in written events at the international level provided feedback. Students compete at the state and international level in written events.

In the third session, Advanced Role Plays, Haley reviewed basic skills required of students to be successful in role-play. Then students practiced with each other, offering one another valuable feedback.

Expert Level Competition Tips was the final session. Participants discussed what puts DECA competitors over the top and launches them on stage.

Haley shared tips for honing competitive event skills, giving them the opportunity to hear from actual International Career Development Conference competitors, finalists and winners to find out the secrets to their success.

DECA’s stated mission is the prepare “emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.”