Provide Your Resume to Judges

Each team member must submit a resume for inclusion in the thumb drive given to all judges via the Case Comp Blackboard site. The deadline for inclusion is Monday, January 30, at 11:59 p.m.

Release of the Case

The case will be released for online download on the Case Comp blackboard course on Tuesday, February 7, 11:59 pm.

Research and Outside Experts

Once the case is posted, coaching by faculty members or school staff or contact with outside experts is expressly prohibited. Teams are expected to conduct any and all necessary research through publicly available resources. Use of all library resources, including pay-for-subscription services such as Lexis-Nexis, is welcomed. Students MAY NOT gain assistance in any form from any other person, including but not limited to faculty sponsors, professors, parents, friends, or personal contacts of any kind whose ideas are not publicly available (i.e. published online).

The Business Librarian may help you conduct research but not answer any questions about the case content or possible solutions.

Each team is permitted to have one dress rehearsal or presentation run-through with the Center for Business Communication, prior to the competition. Feedback to the team will be restricted to the organization, format, and style of presentation only. Feedback on content or strategy aspects is not permitted.

DAY OF COMPETITION

Student registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, 2012. Undergraduate students will check in, drop off their CD, and have breakfast in the main lobby of Ward Circle Building. Graduate students will check in, drop off their CD, and have breakfast in the Terrace Level Graduate Student Lounge in Kogod.

Disk drop off deadline: 8:45 am - A CD or drive containing the final copy of the presentation must be submitted by 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at registration. All team members must register by 9:00 a.m. Free blank CDs available in KSB room 1 or 2.

In the morning preliminary round, teams will be assigned to a room with approximately 4 judges. Mid-morning, a portion of the judges in each room will move to different rooms.

Final Round

The top 3 undergraduate teams and the top 3 graduate teams will proceed to the afternoon final round. All judges will evaluate the final round of presentations. Judges who saw undergraduates in the preliminary round will judge undergraduate in the finals and vice versa. Finalists will be announced at intervals during and after lunch, so each finalist team will have an equal amount of time to prepare.

Guidelines for PowerPoint Presentations:

•    Presentations will be displayed on laptops that MAY NOT have WindowsVista

•    All presentations must be saved in Microsoft PowerPoint 2000/2007/XP format. (NOTE: Presentations will be viewed on computers with Microsoft PowerPoint XP).

•    All presentations must be saved to a CD or USB Drive. (NOTE: Please test your presentation files before the day of the competition. You can pick up a free CD from the K-LAB room 1 or 2 on the terrace level).

•    Sound effects are NOT allowed in the presentation.

•    Graphics ARE allowed in the presentation.

•    To achieve the best presentation quality, color should be set to 16 bits (high color) and the screen should be set to 800 x 600 pixels.

•    In the case of technical difficulties, each team is allowed to bring printouts of their slide show to give to judges if the laptop or projection fail (plan for 5 judges, i.e., bring 5 copies of the presentation and at least one for the team.) You may also bring a backup copy of your presentation on a USB drive in case the file on the CD malfunctions.  Ten minutes will be allotted to fix any technical or equipment problems after which the teams must use their handouts.

Guidelines for Team Presentations:

•    Presenters must be dressed in business attire.

•    All team members must speak during the presentation.

•    Each team member may use only one (1) 4x6 note card during the presentation. If another team member opts not to use a note card, they cannot give that card to a team member. (The Center for Business Communication will provide free note cards to each team.)

•    The time limit for the presentation is 10 minutes followed by up to 10 minutes of Q&A by the judges. Time limits are strictly enforced.

•    Teams proceeding to the final round will NOT be able to make any changes to their PowerPoint presentation. However, teams will be able to change their verbal content for the final round.

•    Hand outs and/or props or displays are NOT allowed.

Scoring:

•    The scoring structure is:

o    Case Analysis: 30 points,

o    Case Recommendations: 30 points,

o    Answers to Questions: 20 points,

o    Delivery and Communication: 20 points.

o    The maximum total score is 100.

•    Tiebreakers:

o    In case there is a tie to enter the final round, the team with the highest score in the Case Analysis and Case Recommendation sections will move to the final round. If there is still a tie, a coin will be flipped and called by the scoring official.

o    Once all teams have presented in the finals, judges will be asked to rank each team (1-3). If there is a tie in the final round, the team with the highest rankings will win the tie. If there is still a tie, seven judges will be selected at random from all the judges. The team that has garnered the highest scores from these randomly selected judges will win the tie. The names of all the final round judges will be placed in a box, and the scoring official will pull the names of seven judges out of the box.

Awards:

•    Each member of the winning undergraduate team receives $250.

•    Each member of the winning graduate team receives $250.

•    Each member of the 2nd place undergraduate team receives $150.

•    Each member of the 2nd place graduate team receives $150.

•    Each member of the 3rd place undergraduate team receives $100.

•    Each member of the 3rd place graduate team receives $100.

•    The Slivinski Award will go to the winning team comprised of all freshmen and/or sophomores. Each team member will receive $75 in addition to any prize they may have received for being a top finisher overall.

•    The top graduate and undergraduate teams will have an opportunity to advance to a regional competition or professional development opportunity.