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Vanier BDC Case Challenge 2017

The annual Vanier College Case Challenge is an inter-collegial business/marketing case competition involving colleges from across Canada. The competition offers community college level Business Administration students an opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge and training to a true to life business experience. The 2017 case competition had 34 participating colleges.

A team of three Humber Business Administration students participated in the Vanier College BDC Case Challenge in Montreal on February 10-12th 2017. This year, Humber’s team consisted of Oskana Kudina, John Sheridan and DonAngelo Volpe. All three students are in the 3 year Business Administration Advanced Diploma Program. The team was coached by Finance and Strategy professor and Program Coordinator Maria Racanelli.

This national case competition is an intense 2-day event where students have limited time to analyze and develop a full case analysis and then present to a panel of judges and an audience of peers and rivals. This year, our team had the added pressure to perform first which meant a 5:30am wake up call, followed by a 6:30am meeting. The team received the case and were sequestered for the following three hours with only a blank USB and laptop.

At 9:30am the team was escorted to the presentation room to meet the judges. Oskana, DonAngelo and John delivered an outstanding presentation and captivated us all with their talent to perform under powerful pressure. They delivered the presentation with grace, confidence and Humber ‘grit”--  go HawkYeah! 

Humber College has been participating for 7 years. This year, Humber College placed fifth in our division.

"We had multiple opportunities to Network with the professionals in the industries, professors across Canada and students. We made a few connections that allowed us to think in depth about importance of our education and relation of the learning material to the real world: that everything we learn actually can be applied to the industries" – Oksana Kudina


Case Challenge Requirements

The teams are made up of three students. The group has three hours to analyze a business problem/case and create a viable marketing plan. They then deliver a twenty-minute power point presentation on their strategy to a panel of judges, peers and invited guests.

2017 Business Administration Progam - Humber College participants were:

  • Oksana Kudina
  • John Sheridan
  • DonAngelo Volpe

I would definitely recommend this event to any other student. It significantly enhanced my public speaking skills and allowed me to develop strong relationships with my colleagues at Humber. – DonAngelo Volpe

It Takes A Village

With only one month, students began preparing for the competition on January 10, 2017. We meet twice a week for a total of 10 hours. This is in addition to a full course load (six other courses).

As part of the Humber coaching experience, this year, I invited Yogyata Sharma from the Longo Faculty of Business who is also a Toast Master coach. She provided additional preparation regarding their communication and body language skills. Given everyone’s busy schedule, when possible other faculty provided a lending hand with the students preparation and presentation skills. The support included: Brad Herd (PC Marketing), Rob Cinapri (PC Accounting), Christine McGaw (PC Marketing) and Ellen Sparling, and Shawn Richards, Marketing professors.  

This would not have been possible without the support provided by Alvina Cassiani and Mark Hanna. 


Students with Maria at BDC Case Challenge

Students Oksana Kudina, John Sheridan and DonAngelo Volpe with Maria Racanelli at the BDC Case Challenge.

Students prepping for BDC Case Challenge

Students Oksana Kudina, John Sheridan and DonAngelo Volpe on the train preparing for the competition.

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