Registration Information

The registration fee will include lodging, conference registration, security, staff and state officer travel, and state spirit items such as (shirt, pins, and glow items) and state tours/activities. Specific information will be posted online by March 9, 2023, and discussed at the advisor meeting at the State Conference.

Cancellations

Registration refunds will only be given if the request is submitted on the official State Refund Request Form. A registration cancellation fee will apply, based on the refund schedule, which is found in the information packet (distributed at the SCDC Advisor Meeting and posted online). The sooner the written request is received, the larger the refund. Housing refunds may not be possible if other roommates are still occupying the hotel room. Any refunds will be processed to the school’s account, and not a specific individual.  Please be aware that airline tickets are not refundable.

Eligibility

Only Michigan DECA members who qualified at the State Conference, attending a Leadership Academy, or incoming and outgoing state officers are eligible to attend at the International Career Development Conference. Membership Invoices MUST be PAID IN FULL by February 15 to be eligible to attend the conference.

Hotel Information

All hotel reservations must be made through Michigan DECA. Hotel rewards and/or loyalty points may not be used.

Michigan DECA has been assigned to:

Hilton Buena Vista Palace, across from Disney Springs, 1900 E Buena Vista Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 https://www.buenavistapalace.com/

Student Housing

Student housing is based on four (4) delegates to a room. If delegates from your chapter do not complete a room of four, consider finding roommates from another chapter. Michigan DECA will not be matching attendees to fill hotel rooms. Advisors should contact other advisors if you would like to house your students with another school to fill rooms.

DECA allocates Michigan a set number of rooms at our assigned hotels. Because of this, we cannot guarantee that we can accommodate all requests for single, double, and triple rooms. There is a chance that we may have to change a double bedded room type requested for 2-3 students to a room with one king bed.

Advisor/Adult Housing

Advisors will be assigned to double rooms. Please indicate the name and school of the individual you wish to share a room with. Michigan DECA will not be matching attendees to fill hotel rooms. Advisors should contact other advisors if you would like to fill rooms. Michigan DECA will request two beds for advisors sharing a room, but there is no guarantee that we will receive them from National DECA and the hotel. Advisors interested in a single room should indicate this on the registration form. Single rooms will be assigned according to space availability.

Incidental Charges

Room service, phone calls, movies, etc., should not be charged to any room. Phone calls from the guest rooms should be avoided; calls are less expensive from personal cell phones.

Supervision and Family Members

As per the Advisor Code of Ethics, the following ratio applies: 1 adult per every 5 students registered.

All advisors are required to assist with a competitive event. Additionally, the attending adults must assist with supervision of the delegates by conducting room checks at and after curfew.

Chaperone Assistance

All Chaperones (including parents) are required to assist with the management of the conference. Chaperones may request any of the above activities or request to serve as a competitive event judge.

If any businessperson(s), parents, or family members will be traveling to the conference with your chapter, they will be required to assist with competition.

Parents and Family Members

Parents and family members may to stay with your chapter in Michigan’s assigned hotel, but they are then considered part of the Michigan delegation, so they must also register for the conference and pay the registration fee. They will need to be included on the same registration form as the chapter and adhere to the same deadlines and Code of Conduct for students and adults, even if they are paying their portion on their own. All fees should be paid to the chapter, who in turn pays Michigan DECA. We are not able to accept personal checks. Any refunds will be processed to the school’s account, and not a specific individual.

International Conference Academies

Because of the demand for delegates to attend DECA’s International Conference Academies, Michigan DECA has developed an application process for selecting delegates to represent Michigan DECA at the Academies. The application deadline is February 1, 2023. Individuals selected to represent Michigan DECA will be announced at the State Conference. The application form for the Academies can be found on Michigan DECA’s website. Each school may only submit two applications per academy.

Code of Conduct & Medical Treatment Authorization Forms

Each delegate, both student and adult, must sign the Code of Conduct & Medical Treatment Authorization Forms. These forms are to be brought to the International Conference. Do not send them to the Michigan DECA office. Each advisor must sign a release stating that they have a completed form for each delegate and will bring the forms to the conference. It is recommended that these forms be notarized for out-of-state travel.

Required Activities

As stated in the delegate code of conduct, all students and advisors are required to attend conference sessions. Chapters that do not attend or leave the opening session early will risk being placed on probation and not being allowed to attend the next year’s International Conference.

All Michigan Delegates (students and advisors) are required to attend the Opening and Closing Sessions. Our delegation will be assigned seats for the Opening and Closing Session. Seating charts will be available when you receive your registration materials.

An advisor meeting might be held during the conference. All chapter advisors will be required to attend the meeting.

Competition Information

Each competitor must bring their own calculator for international competition. Cell phones, smartphones, smartwatches, iPads, iPods, PDAs, programmable calculators, and graphing calculators cannot be used during competition. This includes during prep-time, waiting for judges, and during competition in role-play events.

All international competitive events (does not apply to our state Chapter Awards Program or Merit Awards Program events) with a written entry component will require that the written entry be submitted online prior to the DECA International Career Development Conference. The deadline for submission through the online competition submission portal is April 6, 2023. The written entry will be evaluated prior to ICDC.

As a result, during the 2023 DECA International Career Development Conference, preliminary presentations for international written events without an exam component will present to the judge on Sunday, April 23, 2023. Finalists will continue to be announced Tuesday morning. 

Furthermore, Principles of Business Administration, Personal Financial Literacy, Individual Series, Team Decision Making, Integrated Marketing Campaign, Professional Selling and Consulting, and School-based Enterprise competition events will begin presentations with judges on the morning of Monday, April 24, 2023. There will be no events that begin in the afternoon as in the past.

Weather

You can expect sunny days with temperatures in the 80’s and nights in the 60’s during our stay in Orlando.

Transportation Information

Michigan has reserved flights with a travel agency to coordinate our travel needs for the conference. This is done so we ensure a fair price for all Michigan delegates. Because we have advanced over $30,000 to reserve the space, individuals or schools that use the travel agency will receive a credit for each registered attendee off of their registration balance. .

DECA provides shuttles from our hotel to the convention center. Schedules will be posted in the hotel.

We do not recommend renting cars in Orlando, due to the high cost of parking at hotels and the convention center.

Dress Code

DECA Blazers will be required for competition and anyone going on the stage (scholarship recipients, MDA award recipients, competition winners, etc.) at the International Conference. Please plan on purchasing a blazer from ShopDECA if you need one. Usually, blazer pre-orders are due by April 1st; after that date, no pre-orders will be taken, and blazers must be purchased at the conference. If you do need to purchase a blazer at the conference, plan on going to the ShopDECA booth when you arrive at the conference to ensure they have your size in stock.

Proper business attire is required at all sessions. DECA’s Dress Code can be found on page 15 in the Michigan DECA Guide, in the (national) DECA Guide or online at http://deca.org