Laurier SBE Students’ Society to host “Olympics for business students” in 2011
The Wilfrid Laurier School of Business
and Economics (SBE) Students’
Society has won a bid to host Jeux du
Commerce (JDC) Central in January
2011.
The event, which is expected to
bring in 600 delegates from across
Ontario, is what Laurier’s SBE Student
Society President Evan Thor describes
as “Olympics for business students.”
“It’s going to be crazy,” said Thor.
“I am really excited. We’ve never really
taken on anything like this.”
The games involve teams from various
business schools in the province
competing in a variety of events.
“It’s a great way of uniting the
schools and testing our talents and
our skills and our capabilities,” said Amanda Paquin, vice-president: External
for the Commerce and Administration
Students’ Association at
Concordia University.
Paquin, who has competed in the
event previously, highlighted the
amazing opportunity that JDC provides
business students with, as they
are given the chance to work on live
cases that companies sponsor.
“You really get to test what you
learn in class and put it to the test on
real company problems,” said Paquin.
The involvement of local businesses
in the event is part of the reason that
Thor thinks Waterloo will be a great
location for the 2011 games.
With Ryerson hosting JDC Central’s
inaugural competition – previously
the competition has only taken
place in Quebec and Western Canada
– Thor is excited that Laurier will be
hosting the event in the university’s
centennial year.
“We’ve been working really hard
these past few years to get the reputation
that Laurier has out there with
other student societies,” said Thor.
“We’re constantly showing that
Laurier has some serious stuff to offer
and we’re prepared for something like
this.”
About JDC
Founded 1989 in Quebec
– Goal is to facilitate inter-school
networking and competition
– 1200 francophone business students
from Eastern Canada compete
in the competition annually
How the competition works
Teams of 45 compete in various
events and are graded on a point
system
Components include:
Case studies (sponsored by businesses)
-Sports (traditional and non-traditional)
-Charity fundraiser
-Participation
2009
Laurier sent representatives to
Edmonton to participate in JDC
West; they were named 2009
Ontario school of the year