Exploring Performance Events and Technical Events

Performance events and technical events are two of the largest categories of events that members can participate in. (To find a full list of these events, look in your Chapter Planning Guide.) It is important to distinguish the glaring difference between the two: having to pre-submit.

Performance events do not have a presubmission component, meaning that your entire score on your rubric is comprised of your performance at the conference. Performance events include Business Ethics, Emerging Business Issues, etc. These events are usually a presentation given to judges without any sort of content turned in beforehand.

Technical events include a presubmission, meaning that you have to turn in a product by a certain date before the conference. The specific date for this will be designated in the Chapter Planning Guide (consult with your adviser if you do not have it). Alongside this presubmission, technical events have a performance component as well on certain levels of the competition. Look up your event on our website to see the specific requirements.

Performance and technical events are similar in their inclusion of a presentation within your final score, but weigh the aspects of both before blindly jumping into one. Sure, performance events require less actual “work” (just a short presentation at the conference), but that only places more of an emphasis on your speaking skills and preparation. In other words, to do well, you must polish your presentation to the extreme. Those few minutes of presenting are the only part that matters. Technical events distribute the rubric across more than one component; since your submission has already been scored, there is less riding solely on your presentation at the conference.

Do your research on the events you’ve chosen to make sure you don’t miss a submission deadline and know exactly what you’re expected to do. That way, you can knock it out of the park.

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