The 2024 Virtual Enterprise International Tradeshow and Youth Summit was held on April 11 and 12 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City and attended by more than 35 West Islip High School business education students and West Islip High School Virtual Enterprise facilitator Patricia Morgigno. Almost 4,800 attendees from around the nation and across the globe converged in New York City to take part in the annual Youth Business Summit. The 2024 Summit was the largest to date and represented more than 250 firms.
West Islip Virtual Enterprise firms ViBrace, Midnight Cupcakes and EZ-Gym participated in the International Tradeshow, setting up booths to display, demonstrate and discuss their products and services with Virtual Enterprise students from across the world. Team members created displays, brochures and business cards to help customers learn about their company. During the event, students organized raffles and distributed prizes to winners.
Throughout the school year, the Virtual Enterprise student firms participated in regional competitions to pitch and sharpen their business, human resources, marketing and financial skills. The West Islip High School marketing team of Midnight Cupcakes was selected to participate in the prestigious National Marketing Competition Championship, which brought together top teams from across the nation. Midnight Cupcakes was chosen as a national qualifier from a pool of more than 800 contenders. The team delivered an oral presentation explaining the marketing strategies of the Midnight Cupcakes corporation. Following the presentation, the team faced a question-and-answer session with a panel of judges comprised of business professionals from various industries.
In addition, Brendan Obloj from ViBrace and Lucas Scourtos from EZ Gym participated in the Virtual Enterprise Rapid Prototyping Challenge. This competition brought together multinational teams of eight to 10 students with the shared task of addressing a common problem: how to encourage children to brush their teeth more regularly. Each team had the task of developing a prototype solution to this issue and presenting it via a sales pitch, followed by a question-and-answer session. SmileQuest, an interactive toothbrush doubling as a video game, engages children as they navigate through a maze while brushing their teeth. This innovative concept was developed by the West Islip students and their team, earning them first place in the competition. With no chance for prior preparation, the challenge tested participants’ ability to think on their feet and demonstrate their ingenuity and problem-solving skills under pressure.
Date Added: 5/20/2024