Competitive Event

Tips

2014

The Mountain Plains ViewSpecial FBLA-PBL Week Edition

The Excellence Inside:• Competitive Event Tips

from Your Regional Officers

• March of Dimes Update from Brent Comstock

• And Much, Much More!

Table of ContentsRegional Update from Holland Gray #March for Babies - Walking for a Great Cause #March of Dimes Update from Brent Comstock #FBLA-PBL Week from Sarah Niedree #Competitive Event Tips from Your Regional Officers #Wrapping it Up with Jordan Balvitsch

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Regional Update from the Mountain Plains Regional Vice President

Happy FBLA-PBL Week Mountain Plains Region!

It's that special week that only comes once a year! In the month of February, FBLA-PBL members from across the nation are encouraged to take a week to celebrate/publicize their chapter successes, boost their membership, and begin making preparations for spring activities! FBLA-PBL Week is finally here, and your regional officer team wants to hear all about it! Simply email photos of your chapter participating in FBLA-PBL Week to FBLAMPVP@fbla.org for the chance to be featured in the next issue of our regional newsletter, or use #MPRFBLAPBLWeek on twitter or Facebook! If you need a little help in planning your FBLA-PBL Week experience, the national office is glad to help. Simply visit our regional website for details. We hope to see many participating chapters!

The Mountain Plains Region is happy to announce the beginning of our new regional program, Remind101. Simply text @mountainp to (918) 771-4612 for updates on regional activities and news! At any time you no longer feel the need for these updates, just text "stop."

As our state leadership conferences inch closer, be sure to push to finish those Business Achievement Awards like none other! The competition for BAA Battle of the Regions is live on the national website, and the winning region will receive a traveling trophy to honor the region with the most BAA participation. We are still in this, everyone! We ARE the Mountain Plains Region, and I know we can do this!

With four remaining months until NLC, I can honorably say it has been unlike any experience imaginable to represent the Mountain Plains Region for our year of Excellence in Action. I wish everyone the best of luck at their state leadership conferences and look forward to these final months on the road to Nashville!

Yours in leadership,

Holland Gray

March for Babies supports research and programs to help babies in your community and across the country get a healthy start. Join March for

Babies and a million compassionate people in nearly 1,100 communities across the nation, including 24,000 company and family teams as well as our national sponsors who walk each year. FBLA-PBL is a March for Babies

partner, so put on your shoes and walk for the cause.

Visit the March of Dimes site (marchforbabies.org/fblapbl) • Pick FBLA, PBL or ML.  • Find your FBLA chapter to narrow down the choices. Choose your

state in the drop-down menu. • If your chapter is not listed, visit www.marchforbabies.org and select

join a new team; make sure you use your team type (FBLA, PBL or FBLA ML) along with your school name in your team title.

• Print and complete the March of Dimes Fund-raising Report Form #Contact your local March of Dimes chapter for resources and support! Find them by visiting www.marchofdimesyouth.com or e-mail teamyouth@marchofdimes.com.

March of Dimes Update from Brent Comstock

Greetings from the March of Dimes National Youth Council! #The New Year has rolled in and with it comes many exciting opportunities to become involved in your chapter at the local, state, and national level! As one of the our top fundraising partners, FBLA-PBL has been instrumental in helping us achieve our mission of working together for stronger, healthier babies. #With state leadership conferences coming up in a few months, and FBLA-PBL week right around the corner, it is never to late to begin a fundraiser or awareness event for the March of Dimes! Perhaps you are looking for a chapter event to kick off spring 2014. Consider hosting a March for Babies walk. Marchforbabies.org has all of the information you need to get started, including an online fundraising system that allows you to fundraise online. Invite friends and family from anywhere in the world to contribute to your chapter and individual goals. #For FBLA-PBL week, exhibit “excellence in action” by having a purple-out day in your school where everyone wears purple to support the mission of the March of Dimes. Saturday, February 15th is also community service day. Spend time engaging with your community and identifying ways to partner with the March of Dimes. In addition to hosting an actual event or fundraising for the March of Dimes, spreading our mission is also very important! Be sure to find us on social media outlets, like Twitter and Facebook, and look for ways to participate all year round! #More than 4 million babies were born in the United States last year, and the March of Dimes, with the help of FBLA members like you, helped each and every one through 75+ years of vaccines, research, education, and breakthroughs. If you are interested in hosting an event, would like to learn more about the March of Dimes mission, or are seeking more opportunities for involvement, my email is comstock@unc.edu. I look forward to hearing from you! #Brent Comstock March of Dimes National Youth Council Member Former FBLA National Officer

Become a Mountain Plains Region Outstanding Chapter!

Simply fill out the form that can be found on our Mountain Plains Region Facebook Page, and you are entered.

The amount of chapters selected varies with the number of entries we receive. Just by submitting your chapter for

consideration, you have already won!

The winning chapters will be notified by March 10th and will receive a certificate commemorating their achievement. They

will as be recognized at the Mountain Plains Regional Meeting this summer in Nashville, Tennessee.

Best of Luck!!Feel free to contact any regional officer with questions or comments!

Mountain Plains Region: #My name is Sarah Niederee, a junior at Great Bend High School. It is an honor serving as the 2014 Mountain Plains Region President Council’s Executive President. Through the position of Executive President position, I hope to utilize my communication and organizational skills to connect the national and state levels. #As I walked into the Great Bend High School activity fair my freshman year, I never imagined joining this “thing” called FBLA. An older friend pulled me aside and encouraged me to join. Mrs. Lee, the Great Bend FBLA adviser, showed me the cover of Tomorrow’s Business Leader, which had a picture of the National Officers and expressed that she wanted me run for one of these offices. I was just a freshman, but I decided to dive into the unknown and became passionate about this “thing” and soon learned I was in love with the largest student led organization in the United States. #As FBLA-PBL Week approaches, it is important for each chapter to share their FBLA successes. The National FBLA website, www.fbla-pbl.org, shares many ideas for your chapter to do this week. #Monday, February 10, 2014 - National Presidents’ Open Forum & Fight to the Finish #Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - Each One Reach One Day #Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - Professional Attire Day/Advisor Appreciation Day #Thursday, February 13, 2014 - Career Awareness Day #Friday, February 14, 2014 - FBLA-PBL Pride Day #Saturday, February 15, 2014 - Community Service Day #The Mountain Plains Region hopes you all get involved in this week to celebrate FBLA and all that we do for this wonderful organization. #Sincerely, ##Sarah J. Niederee

• Good resources for the test portion of the event are the bizKID$ Banking

and Financial Systems textbook and practice tests on testfrenzy.com.

• Have a background on the financial situations of each region of the world

and use a business vocabulary during the presentation.

• For the presentation, ask your adviser or an experienced member to

write you a sample case study and  practice presenting at a chapter

meeting with all time and rules restrictions. 

• Be prepared to answer any questions by the judges.

• Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

Banking and Financial Systems - Myan Bhoopalam

Business Plan - Ashley Ebeck• Research your target market extensively                      • Include immediate and long term goals                        • Show financials

Competitive Event Tips from your Regional Officers!As conference season draws closer, you have probably began preparing for you competitive events. If you are starting a new event it can appear overwhelming, that’s why our officers have taken there favorite event and given you tips on how

to succeed! Whether you are a first year member or a FBLA Senior, these will hopefully be useful for everyone!

A great way to learn the basics is to go to 300questions.org and practice the

study guide on the website. If you’re looking to advance your knowledge in the

event, ask your chapter adviser if they have a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order

Newly Revised 11th edition. While it is a 668 page book, by the time you have

finished reading it you will have a very solid grasp on parliamentary procedure.

Another great study guide is the 1200 question study guide for the National

Association of Parliamentarians registration exam. This test can be purchased

on their website at: parliamentarians.org.

Parliamentary Procedure - Dylan Steinkruger

FBLA Principles and Procedures - Divya Abraham • Study everything you can about FBLA!! This could as simple as just knowing the names

of all the national officers or memorizing the entire FBLA bylaws. The goals and creed are an essential part of FBLA so learn those word for word and by number.

• Understand the basic procedures of FBLA and know all the dates and history. For example, in 1937 Hamden L. Forkner founded FBLA.

• Take every opportunity to learn more about FBLA-read Tomorrow's Business Leader, learn about other FBLA competitive events, attend your local chapter meetings, and participate in the many programs such as the Business Achievement Awards

Keaton Erickson - Business Presentation

To be successful in this event, there are four specific aspects to consider and

take to heart before competing: make your PowerPoint short and sweet, only

present facts, don’t let political rhetoric sway your presentation, and practice.

As this year’s topic is politically based, you must only display facts, that way

not to offend any one of a certain political background. By far the most

important of those four aspects is the last: practice. To make a perfect

presentation, you and your partner(s) must develop an understanding of each

other’s presentation style and tactics, as well as perfecting the actual

PowerPoint presentation. Taking all these tips and applying them to your

presentation will aid and assist your presentation along.

Who’s Who in FBLA is a great competitive event that recognizes FBLA

members who have made outstanding contributions to the organization

at the local, state and national levels. Any member who applies for this

award must be an active member of a local chapter with paid dues by

March 1st. Members who compete in this event should show that they

have been involved with local, state and national projects, they should

also be involved with local, state and national conferences. If you want

to go far in Who’s Who make sure that you stay involved and stay

active with FBLA at the local, state and national levels.

Who’s Who in FBLA- Chance Padilla

• Study! Study! Study! This is definitely the most important tip to remember.

The Future Business Leader test is a combination of several other FBLA tests.

"• Write an impactful letter and resume as well as taking a test, you also must

submit a letter and resume for the event. The purpose of the letter is for you

to explain why you should be selected as the Future Business Leader.

"• Be Prepared for the Interview. The final part of the event is the interview.

When you go into the interview, make sure that you are well dressed and

Future Business Leader - Kaden Littrell

Happy FBLA Week!""This week is about you, your chapter, and your advisor. The National Officer Team has given you some great suggestions on how you can put Excellence in Action during this week, however feel free to put your own spin on it. Be sure to take part in Advisor Appreciation Day to honor your advisor and all the hard work that they do!""You can also utilize this week as a strong recruitment tool for your chapter. Perhaps you could hold a recruitment night and invite students from your school to have some fun and learn about FBLA. I also encourage you to hold theme days such as, pajama day or toga day. These creative days will turn eyes in the hallway and encourage students to discover why some students are dressed different.""Be sure to send some pictures of your chapters’ activities throughout this week to any regional officer or on twitter using the hashtag #MPRFBLAPBLWeek!""All in all, FBLA Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. We get to put Excellence in Action, honor our advisers, and most importantly, have some fun! I wish you the best of luck at your SLC’s and look forward to meeting everyone this summer in Nashville!"