INNOVATIONS + ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONFERENCE

NOVEMBER 21-23, 2014WASHINGTON, D.C.

Get ready to be inspired by creativity, innovation

and success at DECA’s Innovations and

Entrepreneurship Conference. As an emerging

entrepreneur, this is the conference for you,

powered by Jason Lucash, Entrepreneur Magazine’s

“Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.”

When you arrived in Washington, D.C., you took a huge step towards success.

There’s no better place to learn how to become an innovator than in the city

known for its powerful and innovative leaders. Whether this is your first DECA

conference or one of many, the Innovations and Entrepreneurship Conference

offers dynamic and exciting programs that will help you develop and enhance

your entrepreneurial talents.

This is your chance to reach out, make connections and meet new people.

Use social media to stay engaged with all of the awesome activities lined up

these next few days. Tweet or Instagram about the incredible things you’re

doing at the conference and use #DECAIEC to make sure you are part of the

conversation!

These next few days are full of opportunities that can only enhance your

entrepreneurial skills and DECA experience. My challenge is that you take every

opportunity to network with other leaders, explore the city and as you return to

your community, use what you learned to spread innovation and creativity. Get

ready to unleash your ideas!

On behalf of your DECA Inc. Executive Officer Team, welcome to the

Innovations and Entrepreneurship Conference!

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONThis conference will reinforce entrepreneurial concepts taught in marketing and business classes. Participation in this conference will help students understand the concepts, processes and skills associated with identifying new ideas, opportunities, and methods and with creating or starting a new project or venture through:• employing entrepreneurial

discovery strategies to generate feasible ideas for business ventures

• developing concepts for a new business venture to evaluate its success potential

• determining needed resources for a new business venture to contribute to its start-up viability

Entrepreneurship standards from the National Curriculum Standards for Business Administration, 2005.

ZACK SCHAJAEXECUTIVE PRESIDENT

WELCOME

GREETINGS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22

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1:00 PM - 4:00 PMREGISTRATION■ Congressional Registration Desk

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23

Visit decadirect.org for all the latest conference highlights.

7:00 PM - 8:15 PMOPENING SESSION■ Grand Ballroom | See page 4.

8:30 PM - 10:15 PM ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE■ Renaissance Ballroom East

11:30 PMCURFEW

7:00 AM - 4:30 PMCONFERENCEHEADQUARTERS■ Congressional Registration Desk

8:30 AM - 9:00 AMMORNING RALLY■ Grand Ballroom | See page 5.

7:00 AM - 4:30 PMSHOP DECA IMAGES■ Meeting Room 19

8:00 AM - 4:00 PMCOLLEGE, CAREER AND COMPANY EXHIBITS■ Congressional and Grand Ballroom Foyers

See page 7.

9:15 AM - 10:00 AMCONCEPT TO CUSTOMER■ Renaissance Ballroom East

9:30 AM - 4:00 PMEDUCATOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SERIES■ Meeting Room 16

11:30 AM - 12:45 PMLUNCH ON YOUR OWN

4:30 PM - 7:00 PMEXPERIENCE D.C.

7:00 PMDECA AFTER DARK: D.C. NIGHT TOUR■ Grand Ballroom | See page 6.

11:30 PMCURFEW

9:00 AM - 10:30 AMCLOSING SESSION■ Grand Ballroom | See page 6.

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM 6:30 PM - 10:30 PMSHOP DECA IMAGES■ Meeting Room 19

All events will be held at the

Renaissance D.C. Downtown Hotel unless otherwise

noted.

10:00 AM - 11:30 AMFRIENDS TO ONLINE FUNDING■ Renaissance Ballroom East

1:00 PM - 2:00 PMGROWING PAINS■ Renaissance Ballroom East

2:00 PM - 4:00 PMPITCH PERFECT■ Renaissance Ballroom East

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7:00 PM - 8:15 PMOPENING SESSION■ Grand Ballroom

JOSH SUNDQUISTJosh’s journey began at age nine, when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and given a fifty percent chance to live. He spent a year on chemotherapy treatments and his left leg was amputated. Doctors declared Josh cured of the disease at age thirteen and that’s when Josh really started living. He took up ski racing three years later, trained for the next six years and in 2006 he was named to the US Paralympic Ski Team for the 2006 Paralympics in Turino, Italy. A multi-season athlete, Josh is the only person in history to ever have been named to both the US Paralympic Ski Team and the US Amputee Soccer Team. Josh’s success and happiness come from following a few simple rules such as, “Always keep a positive outlook and live a goal-oriented life regardless of personal obstacles.” Do that, and according to Josh, anything is possible.

FRIDAY

@JoshSundquist

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Start your morning with DECA! This energizing session for all attendees will convey important announcements for the day, an MDA Miracle Minute and a special performance by the Georgetown Phantoms.The Georgetown Phantoms are comprised of Georgetown University students who perform rock, pop and R&B a capella music. In recent years, the Georgetown Phantoms have performed at the White House, State Department, National Museum of Natural History, Blair House and Kennedy Center, while maintaining a yearly repertoire of more than 50 songs.

8:30 AM - 9:00 AMMORNING RALLY■ Grand Ballroom

SATURDAY

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LAYMON HICKSLaymon understands the struggles that come with being a teenager first-hand. He shares his own painful past – including drama, abandonment, peer pressure, expulsion and depression – and lays it all out on the table. What he calls his “frustrations, flops and faults,” are hungrily devoured by his audience, and then digested. Laymon knows the real motivation comes from within and the road to redemption is possible by believing you can, “Get up! Get out! Go get it!” His own path, from troubled youth to graduating high school with a 4.0 grade point average, is an inspiration. By teaching that “failure is not fatal,” Laymon will inspire you that you can achieve your dreams, no matter what setbacks you have experienced along the way. “If you had the power to try – you have the power to try again!”

9:00 AM - 10:30 AMCLOSINGSESSION■ Grand Ballroom

SUNDAY

@LaymonHicks

Stops include the Jefferson Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, The White House, Iwo

Jima Memorial, U.S.Capitol Building and Washington Monument.

Please report to the Grand Ballroom prior to your assigned boarding time on your ticket provided in your registration materials. You will join your group and

be escorted to your bus for the evening.

DECA AFTER DARK D.C. NIGHT TOURNo trip to D.C. would be complete

without the opportunity to see the monuments at night! This breathtaking experience is a

can’t miss event and is definitely Instagram-worthy. Tag your photos

with #DECAIEC.

SATURDAY7:00 PM■ Grand Ballroom

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www.american.edu www.careerhq.org www.berkeleycollege.edu

www.cornell.edu www.competitionuniversity.com www.deca.org/shopimages www.fidm.edu

hospitality.fiu.edu www.hospitalitymints.com www.hult.edu www.isenberg.umass.edu

www.ju.edu www.jwu.edu www.marriott.com www.menswearhouse.com

ngl.cengage.com poole.ncsu.edu www.ocm.com

www.tropicana.com

www.radford.edu

www.saunders.rit.edu www.scad.edu www.stevenson.edu www.summerdiscovery.com

www.artinstitutes.edu

www.uncg.edu www.vectormarketing.com ugrad.vcu.edu

www.walgreens.jobs www.wellsfargo.com/ financial-education/college

wpcarey.asu.edu www.wesleyancollege.edu

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SATURDAY8:00 AM - 4:00 PMCongressional and

Grand Ballroom Foyers

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Ever dreamed of starting your own business? Have a great idea for launching a new product or service? Would you rather work for yourself than have a job making someone else rich? Jason Lucash will show you how it’s done. Learn from his trials, tribulations and successes of being “it,” living “it” and owning “it.”

ENTREPRENEURSHIPACCELERATOR

ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE Everyone can have an entrepreneurial

idea, but to get the entrepreneurial

edge, you have to possess something

even more special. This kickoff session

is where you’ll explore what it takes

to be a successful entrepreneur.

Examine attitudes, styles and behavior

of successful business leaders and

innovators. The product/service life

cycle will be contrasted to the kind

of leadership required at each phase

from visionary pioneer to growth

minded executive to operations driven

managers. Many have great business

ideas, but it’s as important for a person

to have the entrepreneurial appetite

to take risks, navigate the unknown,

combine confidence to stay with a

strategy, and have the intuition to take

bold leaps in a different direction,

all while staying enthusiastic and

committed through up and down times.

PHASES OF FORTUNECONCEPT TO CUSTOMER During this phase, aspiring entrepreneurs will learn how to take their business concept from idea to a living product or service ready for customers. You’ll learn ways to source your product domestically and overseas and how to get your idea out of your head and into the hands of the people who need them! Attendees will explore concept development and beta testing, customer studies, market research, branding and design, positioning and promotion strategies from QVC to online to personal selling and more.

FRIENDS TO ONLINE FUNDING Great ideas can’t get far without funding, but where can you find the capital to launch your great idea? During this phase, attendees will learn how and where to find the money to fund great business concepts. Beware: it’s going to take a lot more than a great idea to land the money needed! Attendees will explore online funding, pros and cons of various types of loans, equity swaps, and strategies to leverage the margin from products and service to re-invest in the idea pipeline.

GROWING PAINS Prepare to navigate the early challenges and pitfalls that often confront budding entrepreneurs! Examine critical business items ranging from cash flow and manpower issues, managing delays and unforeseen issues with suppliers, growing capacity and scaling technology, conflicts with partners and key employees, and even legal, insurance, and intellectual property disputes that can take the wind out of the “sales” of a great emerging business.

PITCH PERFECT Batter up! It’s time to polish up those presentation skills, and incorporate the lessons learned in the previous phases of the Entrepreneurship Accelerator to deliver the perfect pitch for your new business. This is your chance to prepare, practice and showcase why your idea has what it takes to be the very best. You’ll learn how to present the logical and emotional solution your business brings, what it will take to get it off the ground, why it’s so financially compelling for others to invest, and how to present your capability and experience so investors and customers trust your business leadership.

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JASON LUCASHJason’s entrepreneurial journey started in 1993 with a wheelable storefront, some candy, and a remarkable location to sell it.

His mother, who had been in the real estate industry while Jason was growing up, had always told Jason, “It’s always about location, location, location.” Growing up close to his elementary school and on a prominent street corner, Jason capitalized on his location and opened up “Comics and Candy.” He would go up to Safeway and Costco and pick out the hottest and best selling candy that he knew his classmates would want, then go home and sell the candy at a premium price. Learning how to make considerable income as a fourth grader ($700) he learned something even more valuable...he wanted to be an entrepreneur.

Fast forward 20 years and after getting a degree from the University of California-Davis, Jason gained early marketing and promotions experience while working for Major League Soccer and later JanSport. Lucash, who has traveled more than 900,000 miles in the past seven years, had the idea for OrigAudio while living the life of a road warrior. Frustrated with all the bulky portable speakers on the market, Jason and partner Mike Szymczak decided to launch OrigAudio in August 2009. Their first product, “Fold n’ Play” recycled speakers, were the perfect solution to allow consumers to listen to their music on the road without taking up a lot of space in their suitcases.

A mere three months after launching, their first product was named to the prestigious Time Magazine “50 Best Inventions of the Year” list, causing their business to skyrocket over night. Lucash has gone on to sell over 2 million speakers since then and has his products in 5,000 stores across the United States and another 38 countries around the world. Lucash also starred on seasons two and three of ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank,” and Jason was named Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year” in January 2013.

Most recently Jason was named UC Davis’ “Alumni of the Year” and his company was named to the world famous INC Magazine “500 Fastest Growing Companies” list. Lucash lives in Tustin, California, where he heads up OrigAudio’s corporate office and continues to travel for fun in his spare time.

@jasonlucash

JON CARPENTERAn entrepreneur since age nine, Jon enjoys working with optimistic people who dream big, execute with passion, and have fun along the way.

Jon has made a habit of working for high-growth startups by day and tinkering with a range of enterprising side-projects by night, most recently launching a digital marketing consultancy and developing DC’s preeminent holiday charity gala.

Jon served as LivingSocial’s first marketing director and later as a senior product manager. He oversaw a wide range of initiatives including the roll-out of the company’s first major brand overhaul, all branded social media, several multi million-dollar media partnerships, all trade shows, and the go-to-market strategy for several product launches. While attending Georgetown University, Jon oversaw nine businesses and millions in revenue as President and CEO of the largest entirely student-run company in the US, Students of Georgetown, Inc.

Today, Jon is focused on scaling Spree Commerce, a best-in-class ecommerce automation platform used by companies like Bonobos and Fortnum & Mason.

@joncarpe

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HEADQUARTERS

Check out these great products and more at our store in Meeting Room 19.

SHOP DECA IMAGES

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