DECA, an international business, marketing and entrepreneurship education organization, is holding it’s state competition this February on the 24th and 25th. Held in Des Moines, it pits individuals in tests in different areas of business talent. Competitors who place 1st or 2nd in their event move on to represent the state of Iowa at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) which will be held this April in Anaheim California. DECA students have the opportunity to participate in two different types of competitive events. The first is manual events. Manual events consist of students writing a 20-30 page research paper and presenting their findings to a panel of judges. The Other form of competition is Individual and Team Series events, series events involve participants taking a 100 point multiple choice test and doing two role-plays where the student is given a business scenario and have to give a ten minute presentation to their judges. The topics covered in manual and series events range from things such as Accounting Applications, to Retail management, to Business Service marketing. On top of competing DECA members will vote on their new state officers for the 2013-2014 DECA year. State officer positions include three District Vice Presidents, Secretary, Vice President, and President. At the beginning of the conference candidates will be interviewed by a panel of judges including the former state officers and DECA chapter advisors. Candidates also take a 50 point test and give a three minute speech to all of the DECA members in attendance. Iowa DECA has had over half a century of successful Career Development Conferences, and are on track to have another one this year with hundreds of compete students with state officers and advisors preparing for the next year of DECA.