Fanshawe hosting Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: ANGELA MCINNES
Fanshawe is hosting the Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition (OCMC) on Nov. 15 to 16 for the first time since 2007.

Fanshawe will be hosting over 300 students, faculty, sponsors and judges from across Ontario at the 2018 Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition (OCMC) from Nov. 15 to 16.

OCMC provides students with an ability to demonstrate their marketing skills through competitions and networking opportunities. OCMC has run for over 30 years and is hosted by a different Ontario college each year.

The OCMC team chair and Fanshawe professor, Jack Michienzi, said that the events test student’s marketing skills in a number of practical areas. “The event involves a series of cases, presentations, interviews and other exercises that emulate real-world business challenges and assess skills that are important for a career in marketing,” Michienzi said. “Schools compete against each other in these categories and each event is scored separately by a panel of judges made up of industry partners.”

Michienzi said that the last time Fanshawe hosted OCMC was in 2007 and it is an opportunity to expose the business programs and students to hundreds of students and professionals across Ontario.

The goal for this year is to, “enable students to reach their full potential and give the best performance they can at the event,” Michienzi said.

Kayla Paton, third year business administration marketing student, said that she got involved with OCMC because it is an opportunity for her to apply what she has learned in the classroom so far. “My goals are to challenge myself and succeed in the competition while building relationships with my peers,” Paton said. “We have so many fellow Fanshawe students involved by volunteering and supporting us which motivates us even more to do well for our school.”

Another third year business administration marketing student, Shauna Freemantle, said that being on home turf is an advantage and there is more excitement for the event. “I got involved in OCMC because it is such a unique opportunity as a student,” Freemantle said. “I was involved last year and was disappointed that it did not work out due to the strike so this is an awesome chance to do it again.”- Freemantle said that her goal for this year is to network with other students and potential employers. “I think doing OCMC, plus my co-op, has given me opportunities I would not have otherwise been to exposed to and the resume booster is a nice bonus,” Freemantle said. If you would like to volunteer at OCMC, contact Scott Hubert at shubert@nullfanshawec.ca. To learn more about the event, visit ocmc.ca.