SCHOOL OF BUSINESS • CONNECTIONS • WINTER 09
Back Row: Corey Ouellette, Milton Moffett, Thomas Schertzer, Chris Ament, Torben Nielsen, Ryan Warner Middle Row: Jennifer Soule, Stephanie Reiley, Jaclyn Martin, Matteo Elieff, Danielle Gavloski Front Row: Lori-Beth Pentsa, Daniela Mota, Shauna Procter Missing: Nathan Rayner
Students WIN Competition! Conestoga Marketing Students WIN the Ontario College’s Marketing Competition
Frank Mensink, Executive Dean, School of Business
Our Marketing students have consistently excelled in this annual competition winning medals in each of the last 12 years. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments and how well they have represented Conestoga. Frank Mensink, Executive Dean, School of Business
Lisa Symons A team of Conestoga Marketing students brought home the gold from the Ontario College’s Marketing Competition (OCMC) held at Niagara College in November. The OCMC is an annual event designed to allow students from across the province to showcase their business talents and included are a variety of events in which students participate and are evaluated by judges on their teamwork, strategic thinking and presentation skills. Preparation for the OCMC began last spring, when Marketing faculty invited deserving students to try out for the team. Students studied their subject area over the summer and training began in earnest in the fall, beginning with a group team and skill building session on the Saturday following the first week of classes. Individual preparations, guided by faculty coaches, continued on a weekly basis and culminated in a full evening “presentation boot camp” the week before the event. The competition kicked off with the Quiz Bowl on Thursday evening. Conestoga’s Quiz Bowl participants included Danielle Gavloski, LoriBeth Pentsa, Nathan
Rayner and Jennifer Soule, all second-year Marketing students. This is a fastpaced, Reach-for-the-Top type event where our students are placed on teams of four with students from three other colleges. Conestoga had an impressive performance with all four of our students dominating their teams. It was an exciting event with many close matches and, after a series of last-second comebacks that had us all on the edge of our seats, Lori-Beth ultimately led her team to the gold medal in that event. The competition continued all day Friday with case presentations, a sales presentation and a job interview. Conestoga was richly rewarded at the Friday evening awards ceremony, placing in the top five in nine of the eleven events, a performance unrivalled by any other college. We are thrilled with our successes (please see sidebar). At a small Conestoga-only ceremony prior to the Awards Banquet, Milton Moffett was presented with a certificate recognizing him as Team Conestoga MVP, as voted by his peers. Milton has been an enthusiastic supporter of all team members and contributed many hours
in helping to train the Quiz Bowl participants in addition to preparing himself for two events. Conestoga has been participating in the OCMC for many years and has an unparalleled record of being in the top three for the last 12 consecutive years. The Alumni Association has been a generous sponsor of the Conestoga team for a number of years, and so shares in this success. Fastenal Canada has also been an ongoing sponsor of the Conestoga team. This support is much appreciated by the OCMC team!
Conestoga had an impressive performance with all four of our students dominating their teams. Lisa Symons, Marketing Professor
Quiz Bowl
Lori-Beth Pentsa
1st
Direct Marketing Case
Chris Ament Thomas Schertzer
1st
Retail Case
Milton Moffett Daniela Mota
1st
Job Interview
Shauna Proctor
2nd
International Case
Chris Ament Jaclyn Martin
3rd
Sales Management Case
Torben Nielsen Stephanie Reiley
3rd
Entrepreneurship Case
Milton Moffett Jennifer Soule
4th
Sales Presentation
Ryan Warner
4th
Marketing Case
Matteo Elieff Corey Oullette
5th
Niagara College received the silver medal and St. Lawrence won the bronze.
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