This week is DECA week, and one of the activities that are planned for the week is DECA-ration day. DECA-ration day is an easy, yet fun, way to let the state see how creative you can be with your school store, and see what other chapters have come up with!

Here is how DECA-ration Day will work!

• Take a picture of your school store decked out in Fall Decorations.
• Send it via email to mikeshaheen@yahoo.com . I will send you a quick response back verifying its delivery.
• Check back in with the website a week from today on the 28th, to see all the chapters pictures!

So I can have adequate time to get all the pictures together and formatted for the website, I need all pictures to be in by 8:00 am on the 28th. Thank you all, and get those pictures in!

Although it seems like a long ways away, the International Career Development Conference is right around the corner! ICDC is going to be held in Louisville, Kentucky and this year ICDC will ROCK, literally. Country music superstars Lady Antebellum will be performing an exclusive show at ICDC for DECA members only! The show will be held on Monday, April 26, 2010 and tickets will be available through the ICDC package, and will only be sold to DECA members. More details will be coming soon! Keep checking back here for the latest details!

Carving a pumpkin has long been apart of the Fall Season, especially around Halloween time. This year, your New Hampshire State Officer team thought it would be a fun idea to incorporate this fun tradition into this years DECA week. We will be having a pumpkin contest at this years Fall Leadership Conference which is being held at Southern New Hampshire University on October 27th. Bring your pumpkin with your chapter for a chance to win a Pumpkin Trophy and a $100 DECA images gift card for your chapter!

There are a few rules to go over for the contest.

• As cool as giant pumpkins are, there will not be any room for them at SNHU. To keep everything on a smaller scale, your pumpkin must be small enough that a single chapter member will be able to carry it into the main room.
• Your pumpkins must be carved and/or decorated in advance. There will not be any time to do this at the Fall Leadership Conference.
• Your pumpkin will be judged by your state officer team and students in SNHU’s hospitality program.

The rubric that will be used to grade the pumpkins is included below. Good luck and hope to see you and your pumpkin at FLC!

DECA Day will be taking place at Canobie SCREAMFEST in Salem, NH on Friday, Oct 30th.  This will be the last event of NH DECA Week for this year, so be sure to plan on participating!

Some important facts to know for the event:

• The cost will be $20 for admission. It will cost $25 if you don’t go in with the group…Plan on bringing extra cash if you would want food or goodies….
• DECA will be meeting at the front gate to Canobie Lake Park at around 6:00 PM….
• There are NO costumes allowed!  This is not a DECA rule, this is a Canobie rule, and you will not be allowed to enter the park in costume.
• There are rides, entertainment, and scary stuff too, so lots to do here compared to other fright night haunted houses!!!!!!

If you need any more information, please let us know and hope to see you there!

Earlier today, national DECA revealed two new opportunities available to DECA members all across the country! Your New Hampshire DECA state officers and advisors wanted to make sure you were among the first to know so you can take advantage of these great opportunities!

The first of which is a challenge from one of DECA’s premier sponsors, Finish Line apparel. You will work with a Finish Line retail location to develop a Marketing Research Study for Finish Line Customers. You then need to make a five minute YouTube video, outlining your findings and recommendations for Finish Line. The deadline to post YouTube video’s for the challenge is November 30th. The top 3 teams as chosen by Finish Line executives will be flown to Indianapolis, Indiana to present their findings to Finish Line executives at the Finish Line World headquarters! The winning team will be awarded a free trip to ICDC in Louisville! This is an incredible opportunity for any DECA member to gain real world, hands on experience. More details can be found at: http://deca.org/finishlinechallenge.html

The second opportunity announced today is for any DECA member who has an artistic flair. Every year, national DECA creates a new theme for the year. This year’s theme is Live, Learn, Lead. In the past, DECA has had themes such as Let the Adventure Begin, Xperence the Difference and Make your Mark! Now, it’s your turn to create a theme for national DECA to use next year! Participants will need to create a new theme/logo for national DECA and send it in by December 7th. The winner will receive custom apparel from DECA Images and will see their own design on DECA promotional items throughout the year! More info can be found at: http://deca.org/pdf/ThemeLogoChallenge.pdf

Good luck to those who choose to take on one of the challenges! Hopefully a New Hampshire DECA member will take home the prize in one of these incredible opportunities!

New Hampshire DECA is now on Facebook! Become a fan today to receive all the latest updates from your state officers and advisors on all the latest NH DECA happenings, right from your Facebook homepage!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manchester-NH/New-Hampshire-DECA/145747387849