By Nathaniel Nadler ’27
CHARLOTTE, NC – On November 15th at 7am, a group of 2 Sophomores and 2 Juniors embarked from Newark Liberty to Charlotte International in order to participate in this year’s DECA Ultimate Power Trip. Nate Nadler, Liam Cliord, Thomas Galletti, and Andrew Panycia were selected to attend this year’s Power Trip with the intention of bringing useful skills back to Don Bosco’s own DECA chapter.
The Power Trip is described by DECA as an opportunity to develop “a culture of competitive excellence in your chapter.” This vague definition does not do the Power Trip justice. The Power Trip is organized into three days worth of activities: the first day includes student-run presentations and an opening ceremony; the second day is centered around numerous presentations by respected professionals from all aspects of business, coupled with a great
networking opportunity at night; and the third day begins with a closing ceremony and a great keynote speaker. In conjunction with the numerous professional events throughout the day, students were also afforded the opportunity to speak with representatives of some of the greatest business schools in the country: including University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton, University of Michigan’s Ross, and Indiana University’s Kelley.
Keeping true to their primary mission on the Power Trip, the DECA team members focused on five main presentations over the three days. Among these five presentations, four were marketing-based and the remaining was primarily focused on effectively networking. BRAT, or building relationships across teams, brings up some seemingly obvious points that have been lost in translation. In this presentation, the student presenters – hailing from Pennsylvania – shared that
80% of jobs are filled by personal professional contacts. They constantly reiterated the importance of not being afraid to reach out to those you aspire to be like. They explained that you cannot lose anything so long as you reach out in a respectful manner. With regards to the marketing presentations, there was a constant theme echoed across the board: marketing is becoming more and more AI-dominated and reliant on statistical analysis. They all, in some way, shared different ways to institute AI into a business’ current marketing plan. Some of these ways include an analysis on the target demographic, such as optimal post timing and topics that this demographic may find interesting. Additionally, they introduced the DECA members to some great software that can be used in order to enhance marketing material in a fraction of the time.
Aside from the numerous educational opportunities, the boys were able to expand their horizons on a personal level. The Power Trip hosted about 2500 students from all fifty states, as well as other countries. The geographic diversity of the crowd allowed the the DBP DEKA members to connect with people from all corners of the country. They found this experience to be transformative as it gave them perspective on the cultural differences throughout the many different regions in the country. This posed as a great networking opportunity, broadening their view of the world and their social circles as they have stayed in touch with their new connections.
As previously mentioned, this trip was not a vain attempt to cut classes. The participants have already begun to institute their new skills in leading the DECA program, as well as effectively marketing their newly formed small business. In the weeks to come, the DECA program will begin selling Chick-fil-A a few days a week that will be available to pick up the following day at the conclusion of classes.