2012 JA Fellows End of Year Competition Event Descriptions 1

2012 JA Fellows End of Year Competition Event Descriptions

COMPANY AWARDS
Best JA Fellows Company The JA Student Company of the Year competition is not simply a business competition for young people. The goal is to balance the business achievements of each team as a whole with members individual personal development. Therefore, for a team to win this award, it is not sufficient just to run a financially successful JA Company or to have created an exciting product and service. JA Company members also must demonstrate that they understand how and why the company performed as it did. More important than the bottom line is the student companys commitment to learning from the experience, acknowledging any challenges and difficulties along the way, and growing from them as a team. The title of Best JA Fellows Company will be awarded to the company based on aggregated scores from the following four categories: Annual Report, Stage Presentation, and Company Interview. Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place: $100 per member for 1st place, $50 per member for 2nd place, and $25 per member for 3rd place. Best Company PART 1: Annual Report An electronic copy of the Annual Report, preferably a PDF, must be e-mailed to jafellows@georgia.ja.org by 12:00 pm, Friday, March 2nd. It is highly recommended that you bring additional copies on the event day for your Display Booth, Stage Presentation, and Company Interview. Best Company PART 2: Stage Presentation Each company is assigned a 10 minute slot. The exact time of the slot may not be determined until as late as the morning of the event. The presentation should summarize the key experiences and achievements of the company. The goal is to try to bring to life and include the accomplishments and challenges of your businesss endeavor for the audience. What you have learned from your mistakes and subsequent solutions is as important as your achievements. The stage presentation will be judged on: structure of presentation, relevance and content, delivery technique, visual aids and hand-outs. Best Company PART 3: Company Interview Time: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM; each company is assigned a 15 minute slot. The exact time of the slot may not be determined until as late as the morning of the event, so it is important that your group is able to report as early as 8:30 am. 5 members of each company requested to compete.

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During the interview, judges can ask any and all questions they may have regarding the company and its reports. Judges may probe company members on their understanding of how and why the company performed as it did, the general lessons they gained from the experience, and how these lessons might be applied in the future. We are looking for more than eloquent, memorized answers we are seeking to find student companies with heart who were excited about their company and their JA Fellows experience and how students overcame challenges within their groups. Interviews will be a maximum of 10 minutes in length. The interview will be judged on: development of personal skills, team spirit, knowledge and understanding of how businesses function, and the ability to apply lessons learned to new situations. FedEx Access Award FedEx Judges walk through. At least 5 members of the company requested; at least one member of the company must stay with the booth at all times. The award is presented by FedEx to recognize the JA student company who best created access to four major areas of creating jobs, growing small businesses, driving global development, and improving the environment. Students should be prepared to answer the following questions and should even consider writing out their responses prior to the event, making sure everyone knows how to respond. Creating visual aids in the booth around these four areas is strongly encouraged.
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Create Jobs: How effective was your JA Company in creating jobs? Did you create economic growth? How did your JA Company enhance the quality of life for customers and communities? Grow Small Business: How did your JA Company leverage trade and supply-chain management to provide the best product at the best price to targeted markets? How did you use Access to grow your business? Drive Global Development: How did your JA Company explore markets outside your own? What was your market-entry strategy into these markets? Improve the Environment: How did your JA Company consider the environment and natural resources in its supply-chain management?

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The winning company will be chosen based solely on the companys responses to the four questions. The award may be given as in-kind gifts with a total cash value of $500.

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INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Best Sales Pitch NOTE: The 15 top salespeople - 1 nominee per student company - will be selected based on their individual sales in their respective student companies, provided they are interested and able to take part in the competition. If they decline, their slot goes to the company member with the second highest sales achieved, and so forth. The names of the contestants should be submitted via e-mail to jafellows@georgia.ja.org by 1:00 pm, Friday, March 2nd. The Best Sales Pitch competition showcases the budding sales skills of our most effective salespeople. Students will only learn of the product they are pitching a few minutes before the competition, pushing their skills to the limit. Students will be judged on: creativity, innovation, plausibility, and effectiveness. The sales pitches will be limited to no more than 2 minutes, with 3 minutes allocated for follow-up questions. Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place: $200 for 1st place; $150 minimum value for 2nd place; $75 minimum value for 3rd place. Featured JA Fellow NOTE: This event will be determined by the students prior to the Expo. The name of the Featured Fellow from each company should be submitted by each companys Volunteers via e-mail to jafellows@georgia.ja.org by 1:00 pm, Friday, March 2nd. The name of the Featured Fellow should not be announced to the company prior to the Awards Ceremony. This is a peer nominated award based on an individual from each company that has demonstrated improvement, dedication, and passion for the JA Fellows program. Your company will conduct a secret ballot to vote for the member of your group who you feel best meets these criteria. This person could be an officer in the company, or a member without a title its up to you! Awards for one Featured Fellow from each company: $100 per award. Outstanding Young Business Person (OYBP) NOTE: The competition for OYBP is open to all students. The first part of the competition requires all interested students to e-mail to jafellows@georgia.ja.org a 250-500 word response to the criteria below by 1:00 pm, Friday, March 2nd. Students with the top 15 responses will then compete in the OYBP Interview on the day of the Expo. Students will be notified by Thursday, 8th regarding whether they have made it to the interview stage. The Outstanding Young Business Person is not a student who can regurgitate The Wall Street Journal, but one who embraces opportunity and entrepreneurship and has a clear desire to better themselves and continue their personal and professional growth. We are looking for students who demonstrate growth over their JA

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Fellows experience. The OYBP will be able to acknowledge challenges they faced in their company and how they overcame them, and a commitment to use these difficulties to ensure future success. Students selected to interview. Furthermore, feedback from volunteers will be used to gain greater insight into each candidate. Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place: $750 for 1st place, $500 for 2nd place, and $250 for 3rd place. OYBP PART 1: Short Essay All interested candidates must e-mail their response to jafellows@georgia.ja.org by 1:00 pm, Friday, March 2nd. The top 20 candidates will be chosen to move on to the interview round based on their 250-500 word response to the following criteria: As a JA Fellow, you have experienced firsthand the successes and challenges of running a company. What role does leadership play in your company experience and what are the qualities that you feel are most important for an effective leader to possess? How do you provide leadership in the company and what lessons have you learned that can help you reach your leadership potential? OYBP PART 2: Interview 20 selected contestants assigned a 15 minute slot. Interviews will be a maximum of 10 minutes in length and may cover any aspect of your JA Fellows experience. Should any questions be asked about current events or trends (from a business perspective), all students will be given the same prior notice about the potential topics or questions. Senior Scholarships NOTE: A completed Senior Scholarship application must be submitted to jafellows@georgia.ja.org or faxed to 404.843.3194; ATTN: Tami Goodwin by 1:00 pm, Monday, March 5th. The application will be sent out via e-mail. Senior scholarships will be awarded based on their written application, financial need (all graduating seniors are welcome to apply regardless of need, as this is just one factor), and embodiment of the following JA Fellows principles: commitment to program, positive attitude, and desire to grow personally and professionally. Any document not submitted by the requested date and time will have points deducted at a rate of 5 points for every day it is late!