Carleton hosted the annual Jeux du Commerce (JDC) Central competition for the first time Jan. 20-23.
The event, which is in its third year, brought together around 500 business students from 10 different universities in Ontario and Eastern Canada to compete in business case competitions, as well as sports competitions, social competitions and a charity fundraising challenge, according to Sprott media representative Kimberley Swartz.
Wilfrid Laurier University won the school of the year title for the third year in a row, according to JDC Central co-chair Christine Jackson. All competing teams placed in at least one event, Jackson said.
Carleton’s teams placed third in a number of competitions, including the sports, social, entrepreneurship and management of information systems competitions. They also placed second in business strategy.
Swartz said she thought the event was a success.
“It was really well done,” she said. “The organizing committee did a really great job.”
However, Jordan March, a second-year student at Dalhousie University, criticized the event. He said his team was disqualified after talking to a volunteer during a competition. A volunteer, unaware of the rule, spoke with the team while leading them to a presentation, he said.
“Volunteers basically never had an idea of what was going on,” March said. “If you asked a volunteer a question, you basically had to go through five different volunteers, because no one ever had the answer.”
Jackson said the response she received from most participants was positive.
“The organizing committee was overwhelmed with positive feedback so it would be safe to say that this . . . opinion is not reflective of the . . . participants as a whole,” she said via email.
In response to the disqualification, Jackson said: “It is expected that competitors have familiarized themselves with the document and it is not the onus of the volunteers to communicate these rules.”
“It is unfortunate that the circumstance occurred but in order to ensure fairness for all competitors, the call had to be made,” she added.
March said he’s “not an idiot” but he thinks the rules need to be looked at and re-examined.
Elisabeth Lariviere, a web communications co-ordinator for the Sprott School of Business at Carleton, said hosting the event was an honour.
“It is a really big deal, especially for the students,” she said. “I think it’s pretty prestigious for them because they get to host, and everyone else travels to Ottawa to be able to compete in the JDC Central category.”
