Connections

Imagine this: After competing with forty other second-year students for a coveted spot on the varsity team, and after ten weeks of intense training, you've arrived to represent your college at the Olympics. Your adrenaline begins to pump as you and your partner are escorted to a hotel room. In the room is the case study. You have thirty minutes to read, analyze, and devise a solution in the form of a twenty-minute, seven-slide presentation. You and your partner rely upon your expert training to complete your task, and are then escorted to a room where an expert panel of four judges is waiting. You have fifteen minutes to wow them with your insight, creativity and presentation skills. You and your partner are confident and persuasive. The judges are visibly impressed. Congratulations - your hard work may have just led to a gold medal.

That is what it is like to compete in the Case Study event at the Ontario College Marketing Competition (OCMC). According to Marketing Professor Peter Jurczak, Head Coach of Team Humber, "that, in a nutshell, is the essence of the Case Study event. Students are evaluated on how soundly they analyze the business problem described in their assigned case study, how appropriate and practicable their solution is, and then how good their presentation is - from the first second the students walk through the door of the presentation room."

In 2005, Humber fielded its first OCMC team, with six students competing in the Marketing, Retailing and Entrepreneurship Case Study categories. Humber finished 4th, 8th, and 12th place respectively out of the sixteen colleges who participated. Not bad for a first time out.

For Coach Jurczak, "all in all, last year's team represented the College extremely well. We were very pleased at not only how well the students performed, but how professionally they behaved throughout the event."

In 2006, the competition to get on Team Humber was intense with almost forty students vying for a spot - despite commitment to a two-month "conditioning" regimen. The OCMC is "no different from an athletic competition, or any other intercollegiate athletic event for that matter," says Coach Jurczak. He develops the training schedule and routine in collaboration with a team of distinguished marketing faculty that includes Sheryn Beattie, Guillermo Acosta, John Dickason, Clem Ramchatesingh, and Will Mlacak. The coaches work with students on a weekly basis to prepare them to analyze different kinds of case studies and hone their presentation skills. Training for the Case Study event also involves working with a professional actor to develop voice projection and the nuances of body language.

Another event at the OCMC is the Quiz Bowl, where students are asked to identify a marketing term taken from selected textbooks and issues of Marketing Magazine. Students who choose to compete in this event train separately from the Case Study event by having the coaches pepper them with a wide range of marketing terms. Coach Jurczak says that the team "is fortunate to have very experienced and knowledgeable faculty volunteer time to help with training."

Members of Team Humber 2005 said that participating in the OCMC was the highlight of their academic career. "Sure, students see the academic benefits of participating in the OCMC," says Coach Jurczak. "But they also see how the OCMC helps prepare them for the world after graduation. There, they are going to have to sell themselves and their ideas to their co-workers, their bosses, and their clients so this is a tremendous opportunity to perfect those skills. And having participated in the OCMC is a great thing to have on a resume!"

Everyone is looking forward to the next OCMC. Team Humber has their eye on competing in the marketing, retail, entrepreneurship, sales management, and marketing research Case Study events, as well as the Quiz Bowl. Good luck Team Humber!

Think you have what it takes to be a future member of Team Humber? Keep your eyes open for a Marketing Competition information session soon. You can find out more about the Ontario College Marketing Competition at www.ocmc06.ca.