Guelph delegation of Jeux de Commerce takes over Branion plaza
Business students competing in Jeux de Commerce Central pose in front of the Cannon. The team spent the day in Branion Plaza collecting spare change for Big Brothers and Big Sisters as part of the competition’s charity component. Photo by Wendy Shepherd
Come January, the University of Guelph will host the Jeux de Commerce Central (JDCC), Canada’s fastest growing business competition. Students, faculty and staff got a chance to interact with the Guelph delegation, while the team was out collecting money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada in Branion Plaza on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Schools participating the JDCC are required to complete several activities throughout the year, culminating in the annual January competition. Tuesday’s event, called Groovin’ for Charity, was one such requirement. As the name suggests, students were tasked with dancing around to collect cash for charity.
“Every school that participates [in the JDCC] has to run the Groovin’ for Charity Event,” explained Natalie Branton, the VP of Charity for the Guelph delegation and the team member responsible for the day’s event.
This year’s Guelph delegation consists of 45 students from the College of Management and Economics who apply to be on the team. Once on board, students prepare for one of five areas of the competition: academic, debate, sports, charity and social. The JDCC then brings commerce students from Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes together for a final round of competition in each one of these categories.
The Guelph team hopes to raise $3,600 for Big Brothers Big Sisters this year. Last year the team raised approximately $3,000 for the charity component. Guelph’s delegation has already raised $550 for the charity in a bottle drive.
The team enlisted DJ Moody, a friend of one of the team’s captains, to liven-up the atmosphere (a few noise complaints notwithstanding). And the cold helped keep people dancing. The team was, perhaps as a consequence, very enthusiastic in soliciting donations.
“I think we’re pretty aggressive in our marketing,” said Branton, jokingly. “But I think it’s kind of funny, and we’ve been really successful with it. Aggressive is probably putting it lightly, but it’s for a good cause.”
Last year’s JDCC was held at Dalhousie University. This year, teams will be arriving in Guelph from all over eastern Canada, taking over the Delta hotel and conference centre during that time.
While competition has its serious side, with the academic and debate portions, fun is obligatory part of the whole competition. Hockey and volleyball games will be part of the sports component this year, and the social component asks students to design costumes around a theme.
“It’s so much fun. It’s the most fun I’ve had in university,” said Branton. “It’s like a family atmosphere and everyone is really good friends now.”
The Ontarion
Source:
http://www.theontarion.com/2013/11/dancing-for-charity-commerce-competition/
The News from http://funyhalloween.blogspot.com