Santa Clara, California– From Friday, January 5th, 2024 to Sunday, January 7th, 2024, over 120 members of the Harker DECA chapter attended the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), the first competitive conference of the year.  Throughout the three days at the conference, chapter members had the opportunity to display their skills by representing Harker DECA in their competitive events while simultaneously bringing the Harker community together.

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“It was exciting for our members to experience a real competitive conference! I loved watching our freshmen’s professional development— their growth from DECA Launch to this conference really reflects the hard work they put in with their mentors” said Chief Executive Officer, Chloe Lee (12).

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On Friday, January 5th, students arrived at the Santa Clara Marriott Hotel at 1:00 PM. After the Harker DECA Officer Team surprised the attendees and chaperones with Jamba Juice drinks, members studied for the approaching competitive testing sessions before convening for the chapter meeting. The Harker DECA Competitions team led a chapter wide study session, effectively preparing attendees for their testing event. 

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Afterwards, the testing sessions began at 3:00 PM. Each student took exams in their respective cluster: Marketing, Business Management and Administration, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, or the Business Administration Core. Later that evening, SVCDC kicked off with the Opening Session in the Grand Ballroom. California DECA’s Vice President of Silicon Valley, Emily Mitnick (11) introduced the conference, went through the schedule for the weekend, and led the district in a bonding activity. 

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“Opening Session was one of the highlights of this conference for me because California DECA hosted a unique bonding activity that allowed us to meet people from different schools. I was able to talk to many different DECA members from Valley Christian and Basis” said Vice President of Public Relations, Gabriel Jacob Li (11).

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Afterwards, attendees listened to speeches from the candidates for this year’s VP of Silicon Valley, including a Harker DECA competitor, Leana Zhou (10).  The opening session closed with a DECA-themed bingo game among all attendees. 

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Saturday marked the first full day of competitive events, including both roleplays and written events. Competitions ranged across all clusters,  including events like Entrepreneurship, Professional Selling, Integrated Marketing, Operations Research plans, and more. 

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After a long day of competing, students relaxed at California DECA’s game room, providing the opportunity for networking across chapters through playing various board games in a lighthearted environment.

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Sunday concluded the Silicon Valley Career Development with awards ceremonies. In the morning. students made their way to the grand ballroom for the Mini Awards Ceremony, where many Harker DECA chapter members were recognized for their test and presentation scores.

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“It felt good to win glass after putting in so much practice and hard work and seeing it all pay off!” said Kimi Yashar (11), Harker DECA’s Director of Technology. “My experience at SVCDC has me looking forward to another great experience at states!” 

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After a breakfast provided by DECA, the Grand Awards Ceremony started. With the most first place wins, Harker DECA proved to be the most competitively successful chapter in attendance.

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Members placing in the Top 3 are as follows:

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1st Place:

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Edward Huang (12), Andrew Au (12); Integrated Marketing Campaign Service

Yena Yu (10); Franchise Business Plan

Claire Perng (11), Cindy Yu (11); Buying and Merchandising Operations Research

Annabel Huang (9), Arshia Sankar (9); Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research

David Kelly (9); Principles of Business Management and Administration

Krish Arora (10); Accounting Applications Series

Saahira Dayal (11); Automobile Services Marketing

Kimi Yashar (10); Business Services Marketing Series

Andy Chung (11), Nelson Gou (11); Financial Services Team Decision Making

Janam Chahal (10), Eden Kelly (10); Hospitality Tourism Team Decision Making

Claire Luo (12), Lauren Lin (11); Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making

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2nd Place:

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Lucas Chen (10), Sophia Ou (10); Integrated Marketing Campaign Service

Tanvi Sivakumar (10); Financial Consulting

Shreeya Merchia (12); Professional Selling

Andy Chung (11), Nelson Gou (11); Independent Business Plan

Nathaniel Idicula (9); Principles of Business Management and Administration

Koby Yu (10); Principles of Marketing

Sahil Varma (11); Automobile Services Marketing

Eminly Mitnick (11); Entrepreneurship Series

Shreeya Merchia (12); Marketing Communications Series

Keren Eisenberg (11), Naiya Daiswal (11); Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making

Heidi Lu (12), Metrica Shi (12); Sports and Entertainment Team Decision Making

Tanvi Sivakumar (10); Personal Financial Literacy

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3rd Place:

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Colin Li (9); Integrated Marketing Campaign Service

Emily Mitnick (11); Hospitality and Tourism Professional Selling

Sanaa Bhrokar (11); Independent Business Plan

Alicia Ran (11); Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research

Ethan Gu (9); Principles of Business Management and Administration

Aanya Mukherjee (9); Principles of Marketing

Sathvik Chudru (12); Business Finance Series

Claire Perng (11); Business Services Marketing Series

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