Iowa PBL State Spring Leadership Conference
This April, Dakota State University’s Phi Beta Lambda business club participated in the Iowa PBL State Leadership Conference at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. DSU PBL had a total of 14 members attend and compete in a variety of competitive events at the SLC. DSU PBL has doubled their active members this year with 23 total members and shattered their record for chapter events and activities completed in a year, showing that PBL at Dakota State University is stronger and more active than ever. Some members took an online test prior to the conference while others performed in competitive events at the conference. Several members participated in both the online testing events as well as the conference competitive events.
The SLC is a great learning experience for college students of all majors. Students learn how to dress and act professionally in a business setting. DSU PBL Vice-President Tara Krause said her favorite part of the conference was it helps all of us “learn the skill sets to be successful in our future careers.” The conference had a number of different workshops for our members to attend to help improve their business skills and knowledge. These workshops included interviewing skills, resume building, networking, and other valuable workshops. The conference was a great opportunity for our members to network and meet other students with similar career goals as well as meet local business professionals. As first time attendee, Rigoberto Aquirre put it; “The conference was a fun and effective way to not only network with other people, it was also an opportunity to learn from other successful business professionals.”
For some of our members, including Jeni Habeger and Rigoberto Aquirre, this was their first competitive PBL conference. When asked about her experience at her first SLC, Ms. Habeger had this to say; “The Spring Leadership Conference of 2013 was incredible! I believe our whole chapter benefited greatly from hearing all of the speakers and attending all the sessions. The networking was awesome! We all made so many new connections and I cannot wait to see everyone again at Nationals this June!”
With a remarkable performance, 13 DSU members placed in the top 3 in one or more of their events, qualifying them for the PBL National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, CA this June. Our members placed in 15 individual events, 7 team events, and 3 chapter events for a total of 25 events, compared to the 16 total awards PBL won last year at the 2012 SLC in Iowa City. DSU won nine 1st place prizes, nine 2nd place, four 3rd place, one 4th place, and two 5th place awards. DSU was even recognized as one of the top chapters in Iowa PBL wining 2nd place in the Chapter of the Year award. DSU PBL President Zach Merrill put it best; “I couldn’t be more proud of such an active and devoted DSU-PBL team.” It was great to see our members rise to the challenge and represent not only DSU, but South Dakota in the Iowa conference.
