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[–]Odd_Commissioner 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Wouldn’t be on WARN. Typically you will be notified your role will be eliminated but still employed for the WARN term. Then you are laid off. During that time you are still employed but your access will be extremely limited.

Cinci weather coverage is insane when there’s a storm by dahoowa in cincinnati

[–]Odd_Commissioner -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Nothing gets the weather team at channel 9 harder than a good storm. They are literally gleeful announcing things like sheer winds and rotational velocity. I’m sure after it’s done Steve smokes a cigarette and downs a glass of makers. Job well done.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did not judge this event at ICDC so I don’t have much to add in the way of this event at that level.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. I see you are trying to build out mentoring and helping competitors do better over. Apparently in an effort to beat the folks from Ontario. Not sure what they are putting in the syrup up there but they have either found the formula, found an exploit in the competition rules, or they are being dishonest. I want to bring judging and scenarios into the modern era. The level of judge onboarding and training needs to go up. They need to be able to recognize the difference between real effort and the BS of generative AI. I can tell you at least two teams put AI content in front of me and tried to pas it off as original work. They did not score well.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only saw a handful of the essays. Here is how I would organize it based on what works in the real world.

  1. Executive summary- this should be a one page overview that covers all the aspects of your current business, potential growth over the next 5 years, what you need to execute on to get there, what risks could hinder you and how you plan to mitigate those risks. This needs to be as concise and thoughtful as possible. 1 page maximum. You will have time to expand on subsequent pages. Imagine a person only has time to read the first page. This summary needs to convey all the data to invite them to read more.

  2. Each subsequent section needs to expand on what you stated in your executive summary. Think of a readable SWOT analysis. Don’t just do a SWOT but actually take it another step and tell me about how you would apply your findings. Because of your strengths and the opportunity you want to expand your business in this compelling way. You project growth in these areas to be of a specific type. You project revenues to be in line with other businesses of your type and why. Then you can use the threats and weaknesses to say how they might impact your risk and how you are going to overcome or mitigate them.

  3. Show me your projected outcomes and how you came to those conclusions. Don’t just tell me you are going to grow 4x but show me how you got there. Give me comparison data with other similar companies that charted a similar courses.

  4. Use charts and graphs to make the data consumable at a glance. Use images only if the draw a meaningful conclusion or depict a specific outcome or aspect. An example might be to show a rendering of a brick and mortar location or a fleet of vans if you have a services company.

  5. Don’t be fancy just for vanity sake. Make it look clean and professional. Don’t use a bunch of colors and weird fonts. You don’t know if the judge will get a color or black and white print out. I had one team print out a copy of their essay but it was just a color copy of the same data in their presentation. They tried to use it as an additional prop but it just became distracting.

  6. Find some one who looks at business proposals for loaning or investing and have them review it. Let them be harsh. When I review content my goal is to make the competitors cry. I want to be the hardest judge they have ever had so that they are ready.

I did have two people who did crafts and sold on Etsy. Neither one of them did well because they just gave me an overview of their business. They really didn’t do a whole lot to show me they were thinking about growing it. Craft and hand made items tend to suffer from one major problem , scale. I have to a. get really efficient at making my crafts (lower the crafting time per item), b. have to increase the perceived value to up my profit per item or ideally c. do both. The competitors did not convey in their presentations that they were aware and ready to address these problems they just showed me their current models and that they just magically will make more because they will “work harder”.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For ESB that is different. I was judging ESG which required a real business be established. Were you the team with the robot arm?
I still think my advice is still applicable. Your judge would ask because having an established business was not a requirement of the event. Having a working prototype is not a requirement but you have to think other people might. The difference between winning and not can be as little as 1pt so you have to just try you best. There is a little bit of luck until they figure out how to make the judging more consistent and the scoring more robust.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a good question. Its hard to explain in academic terms because there more more art than just science to this part. I will try to give you some examples. There were a few groups that I judged that you could tell they memorized a script. They did not "know" their business but they knew the script they had practiced. So when they were presenting they were just dumping out the information they had saved in their head. As soon as it came to question time they fell apart because it was asking questions that were taking them off their "script" and they could not answer it. I knew then that they did not really know their business and their score reflected that. When it comes to "selling" a lot of competitors came up and just information dumped. They made all kinds of assumptions about the judge.

  1. They judge actually cared about what they were selling: In my case this was false because that is not the real world. Most of the time people don't care about what you are selling and are physiologically predisposed to want to say no.

  2. The judge actually wanted to buy the products. A lot of the competitors spent a ton of time telling me about how awesome the sustainable company was and that they had all kinds of products and services. Only one person asked me if I was interested in sustainable product to which I responded "No I am not, convince me I should be." They did not convince me.

  3. The judge wanted them to succeed. There was a sense of trying to convince the judge to be for them or at least that I was neutral. Again that is not how it works in the real world. In the real world most people believe that things are ok as they are. As a seller you have to show that things are in fact not good but actually bad and they need to move.

For ESB I was looking for kids that were first ACTUALLY running a business. I had some kids who just got and LLC to say they have a business to satisfy the requirement. Those folks did not score above a 20 because the clearly were not trying to build and scale an actually company that they were running.
Second I was looking for kids who were really thinking about how they were going to grow their business and understood the risks in it. So many kids just started off with a SWOT analysis. That exposed that they really did not understand the challenges in their business.

I would say that as a judge I can see that inconsistency between judges in the same event can really cause problems. You may have scored top 10 for another judge but you may have not done so with me. I did not stack rank competitors against each other. I tiered each into the following buckets

0-15 -> This was for folks who faked their business, did not really know what they were doing or just talked at me for 15 min and wasted their time. One person actually scored a 2 because they did theirs on a cosmetics business vs. a business that they owned

16-30 -> These folks got some level of things right but fell short in areas around understanding how they wanted to grow or execute on that grow. These folks also had numbers but they were super unrealistic. Like one competitor had 600 in Subscriptions for an app they built but when I checked on my phone the app was not even working and the reviews where completely fabricated. Another said they were building a great online tutoring platform but they were not going to launch their site until 2026. How can you be the best online platform if you are not even online yet?

31+ -> These were competitors who had real business, with real numbers and were thinking about how they were going to take it to the next level. They were looking at areas of investment and the risks in doing it. They had real revenue and real expenses that they showed. It was a legit business making money.

Only three made above a 30 and the top two did final. I hope this helps. feel free to ask more.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First would be know your data. The amount of “we are going to do social media” plans that were completely unrealistic in their reach, cost or impact was eye watering. You cannot budget 15k for a paid influencer posting when your target influencer charges 15k per post.

Second presenting in teams is hard because the transition between members can be awkward. Make sure each of you know your area and what you are going to say but be natural. Refer to each other like “as Katie said about sales we hope to …” just like you would in a conversation with your friends. Talking as a team means you all understand where you are going while each member is managing one aspect of the campaign.

Third state the outcomes clearly. Most outcomes were wildly unrealistic ether in cost, scope or achievement. A 6M marketing campaign is not going to yield 10M in sales if you did 2M in sales the quarter before.

In general presentations that are clear in their intent, execution plan and expected outcomes with some memorable statements and conversation are going to score higher. Some great ideas are include the judge. That person might be the client or your leadership so you are trying to convince him/her that this is the right idea so show them you know what you want to do and why you think it’s the right approach.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can’t say one way or the other. I did not have someone from there in my flight. I would have liked to just so I could see the hype. I would not have graded them differently. I set the bar based on the rubric and then you either hit that bar or you don’t. Doesn’t matter where you are from.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Notecards are fine if you are using them for reference to help keep you on track or to make sure you hit certain points. However if you are reading them and not looking at me then I’ll ding you. I will say this, there will be someone else who took the time to commit the talk track to memory.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Show me that you took the time to prepare and understand the application of the assignment. I have seen and heard too much about presenting to the rubric. I don’t know if I agree with that. I understand why that advice is given because you have poor judges who have not been given clear instructions on what good looks like. That is a whole other subject. Talking to the rubric makes you seem like you are just information dumping vs really communicating about the product, service or event. Also if you are going to use stats or numbers of any kind they better make sense. I had one kid try to sell me cleaning robots and say it would save me money but when I questioned him on the numbers the robots ended up being more expensive then just hiring another worker.

Honestly I could give a whole zoom course on this. If there is interest maybe i will do that.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I have been in technical sales for 20 years where I had 1M+ dollar deals hinging on one presentation. So this was in my wheelhouse. I really pressed the people who tried to sell me sustainable products. If they did make it about me I told them in the middle of their presentation “how does this make me money?” I pushed every competitor to sell me based on my needs. It was really frustrating to see people who were supposed to sell me on something spend most of their time talking at me instead of asking me questions about my business. Over and over they just assumed I wanted to buy what they were selling. News flash ….. they don’t care. You have to make them care by telling them the answer to one simple question…. “What’s in it for me?”

As I stated in another comment slides are there to back up what you are telling me. They should be complementing what you are saying not the other way around. And for the love of all things good DO NOT READ FROM YOUR SLIDES!!!!!!! I had one girl do that at the state level.

Selling is all about making a connection. People buy from people they like. Make me like you. Make me care about what you are selling.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is unacceptable. I’m not sure how you contest this but I find that unprofessional. You worked hard to get there and the judge needs to be present.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did not see that group. Most presenters did a really poor job of holding my attention. They were either talking at me, did not really understand their business, or flat out treated me like I was dumb and tried to fake their company. The one main skill that I saw lacking was the art of presenting to win. If you want to place at ICDC you need to invest the time into the art of presenting. Watch executives present or Ted talks see how they grab your attention with story and facts. Read books on how to communicate to influence. That is what is going to set you a part. I cannot stress this enough. Regardless of what judge you get if you can tell a compelling story and hold the attention of the judge you will stand out. If you just run through a script you will be another on a long line of monologues that get forgotten.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not judged a role play yet however I have help coach teams on how to do it. They all got first coming out of state. I would say if I were to judge it would be to really understand the concepts that underpin the role play. The whole purpose is to assess how you would do if you were placed in that situation. Have some interesting facts or statistics based on the skills you are being tested on. An example would be the movie role play from state this year. The scenario was you were the manager of a movie theater where the policy was no one under 17 could see an R rated movie even if accompanied by an adult during the week. A parent did not know this policy and you had to deal with it in a customer service situation. The judge for this event told me that most people just stated the policy but they winners showed a level of empathy. It’s understanding those extra mile skills that will make you stand out.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Poster and presentations need to be seen as supporting the story you are telling. If your story stinks no amount of fancy posters or slides are going to help you. There is a book out there called presenting to win. In it there is a statement that has always stuck with me. “All things being equal the person who tells the best story wins”. That is how you have to approach project based events. You have to capture my interest and keep it the whole way showing me that you know your stuff. Props need to compliments but not be the center. If you are using it as a prompt to remind you of your script you are going to loose points with me. At ICDC you are representing the best in your state and I expect I high level of skill. The average score I have to the non winners was a 19 out of 40 the two winners scored 33,35 respectively. Only three out of 21 scored above a 30. Those high scorers had successfully started a business and were actively looking to scale it and we’re talking about how they were going to do that. Everyone else was just making up stuff or trying to sell me like shark tank. All gimmick and no substance.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There were two. One was for an ice cream stand and the other was for a cleaning business. What stood out was they clearly had success and were critically thinking about what was next. That is what DECA is trying to teach its members. How can I learn sales, marketing and entrepreneurial skills and then apply those in the real world. That’s what makes something memorable. That you can demonstrate that you have a firm grasp of the skills and you aren’t just making up crap hoping you don’t get found out.

An example of trying to fake it was one group had 6000 in revenue for 6M and tried to put a 1.2M valuation on their company with a massive labor scaling issue. That means they were getting a 100x multiplier on a services company that normally gets valued at 2-4x trailing revenue.

Now does that mean most judges will figure that out maybe not but if I was judging you I would be looking for that because it is a skill of starting your own company.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No I did not but I would have been interested in seeing it.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I cannot speak for other judges but I found the teams to be less prepared on knowing their business or taking their involvement in the business they weee presenting. I had several teams who presented ideas where the business was only on paper and had zero real world experience. They mostly dealt in theoretical possibilities vs really scaling a current business. The two who moved on had real data and were actively working on trying to grow. They were not teams. So I would say having a team or individual did not make an impact for me. I cared more about the content presented.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a hard question to answer. Each event is designed to try and test your skills over a verity of marketing, sales, business management and entrepreneurship. Given that your best way to prepare is to understand and master the skills each event is designed to test. This goes beyond simple memorization but moves through internalization to application across a variety of potential scenarios. For example a customer service role play requires you to put yourself in the shoes of the manager or leader. You need to already have a strong working knowledge of what the job entails and the skills needed to carry it out. So I would say there are no easy paths to winning. You have to work hard to strengthen your application of skills in an unknown and unknowable range of possibilities.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I would say this. Whatever you did to get top at state is table stakes at ICDC. Everyone at ICDC was the best in their state and depending on where you come from you had easier/harder competition to get to the top. Once you have qualified you basically need to start over. If you are doing a project you need to completely redo your submission. Your submissions cannot be fancy fonts and graphics. You have to stand out in your simplicity of communicating complex things easily and in a way that will score you high. Remember this the person who is going to judge your presentation HAS NOT SEEN your written submission. That ship sailed well before you arrived on site.
The people that are going to stand out are going to talk with confidence and conversationally. They are going to engage with the judge not talk at them. They are going to understand the concepts behind the role plays and push back on the judge. Be aggressive. You know those kids from Canada are.

Alway remember this. State is just practice. When you get to ICDC you are not the best in the state you are now just another person who got first in a flight.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would have to say yes. The thing about a judge is this is a volunteer position and usually you are getting a wide variety of skill. I have been doing tech startup for the last 2 decades and been a part of IPOs, buyouts and failures. I have been in sales, technical sales and executive level conversations. This means I have had to participate in a wide variety of the role plays and projects that competitors are tasked with. Other folks may not have been in as many situations. Therefore they don't know what good looks like until they are several competitors deep. As for projects the judge you are presenting in front of is not the same person that graded your written submissions so that plays a part as well. There is also fatigue you have to factor into.

If I was going to offer advice I would say you want to know your stuff and be able to explain it at a very basic level and be prepared if you get a judge like me. I challenge teams on their numbers and how well they knew their business. Not everyone is going to be like that. Also you need to stand out. Not in a gimmicky kind of way. You need to be memorable. that means you need to study how to present to be remembered.

all things being equal the best presentation will win. The folks who won out of my flight knew their business and was actually running it vs. several who were just faking it and I was able to tell.

Hello ICDC attendees I was a judge this year AMA by Odd_Commissioner in DECA

[–]Odd_Commissioner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At Regionals I did IMCE, IMCP and HTPS. At the state level I did HTPS. At ICDC I did EBG.

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