Registration and payment process

• All teams will be asked to pre-register. Pre-registration is a way for all schools to have an equal opportunity to pull together a team of students to participate in the case competition.
• Pre-registration does not guarantee participation in the competition, instead it tells us you are interested in being considered for selection.
• At least 1 team member needs to be identified during pre-registration process.   
• During pre-registration, teams will be asked to provide school name, location, and contact information.
• Teams will be selected to create a competition filled with diverse representation of schools (large, small, private, public, different regions of the world)
• If selected, teams will be asked for $200 payment and roster information.  
• Student teams will be notified starting February 12th if they are invited to participate in the case competition.
• Invited teams will have two weeks to accept the invitation and provide the registration payment.
• If selected, final team roster is due March 4. 
• Refund policy:  If a selected team registers for the competition, but is no longer able to attend, a full refund will be allowed until Friday, March 8th. Refund requests need to be in writing. 

Eligibility & teams

• Maximum of 16 teams allowed.
• Only 1 team per school may participate in the competition.
• Teams of 3-4 graduate-level students only. PhD students are not allowed.
• Final team rosters due March 4.
• Teams are not allowed to adjust members after seeing the case.

Case

• The case will be distributed two weeks prior to the submission deadline.
• All case information, materials, communication, and submissions will be managed using a centralized site. Team members will be granted access to the site and are expected to utilize the site for the duration of the competition.  
• Once the case is distributed, teams cannot solicit assistance from anyone who is not on the team (including staff, faculty, other students, or the sponsoring organization). All work presented must be solely that of the participating team members. Outside research is allowed (e.g. written, online).
• After the case is distributed, teams will be given a one-time opportunity to ask questions. All questions must be received by the designated timeframe, as listed. The case sponsor and case officials will review questions and post responses.
• For data analysis, teams are free to choose the software they utilize.

Presentation

• Presentation slides must be formatted using Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe PDF and be PC-compatible.
• The first or second slide of the presentation should list your assigned team number, as well as photos and names of team members. Do not put your school name or logo on any material and do not identify your affiliation to the judges prior to or during the presentation. A student's school affiliation should remain anonymous. Failure to comply with this rule will result in disqualification.
• Presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes. During the judging process, presentations will be stopped at 15 minutes.
• Each member of the team is required to present, although the amount of time per speaker may vary.
• Presentations must be turned in by 8:00 a.m. Central time on Thursday, April 4, 2024. You will not be permitted to make changes to your slides after this submission deadline.
• Final round presentations are open to all non-advancing teams and to the public.

Judging

• The judges panel will be comprised of experts from the data case sponsor and other analytics leaders from various industries.
• The judges will act as a group of top managers and/or directors. The judges are familiar with the data analytics space and the problems identified in the case. Therefore, the case facts do not need to be repeated. Define and analyze the problem and present a justified plan of action with recommendations.
• A judging rubric will be used when scoring presentations.

Prizes

1st place - $5000

2nd place - $3500

3rd place - $1500