frequently asked questions

MVFBLA is commonly asked some questions by interested students and also by parents and the community as well. Here are a few common ones - if your question is not listed here, we invite you to ask any one of our officers.

What does MVFBLA offer?
MVFBLA offers students the opportunity to take their skills beyond the classroom - through exciting competitions and leadership workshops, students can gain real-world experience that will help them in their future careers.

What is the difference between FBLA and DECA?
FBLA and DECA are the two business clubs on campus, both amongst the leading chapters in the nation. It is said that the "only gangfight you'll ever see at Monta Vista is between FBLA and DECA," and while this is an exaggeration obviously, there is some fierce rivalry between the two organizations.

For the most part, FBLA and DECA offer similar quality events and experiences. However, in addition to competitions, MVFBLA has a strong projects team that has in the past created its own projects, in the Community Service, American Enterprise, and Partnership with Business areas. Anyone can become a project lead, including Freshmen. Projects provide an excellent opportunity to get involved in MVFBLA and gain leadership experience. Past projects include teaching ESL classes, teaching business to Kennedy Middle School students, partnering with Russel Leong Design, and Healthy Life Campaign.


Website	http://www.mvfbla.org	http://www.mvdeca.org
Competitive Events	60+	45
Competitive Focus	General career skills and business skills, focusing on the areas of business procedures and management, finance, technology and law through a combination of individual and team competitions encompassing both presentation and production components.	Professional development, especially in the core clusters of business administration, management, finance, hospitality, fashion, and marketing through both individual and team events.
Competitive Excellence	2nd in the Nation (since 2008) 4th in California (since 2008)	2nd in the World (since 2010) 1st in California (since 2007)
Member to Officer Ratio	11:1	20:1
Conferences
Leadership Conference (No Competitions)	Leadership Development Institute (LDI) Location: Santa Clara Hyatt, Santa Clara, CA Date: October 15-17, 2010	Leadership Development Conference (LDC) Location: Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, CA Date: September 25, 2010
District Conference	Bay Section Leadership Conference (BSLC) Location: Homestead High School, Cupertino, CA Date: March 5, 2011	Northern California Career Development Conference (NorCal CDC) Location: San Ramon Marriott, San Ramon, CA Date: January 14-16, 2011
State Conference	California State Leadership Conference (CASLC) Location: Santa Clara Hyatt, Santa Clara, CA Date: April 14-17, 2011	California Career Development Conference (State CDC) Location: Santa Clara Marriott, Santa Clara, CA Date: March 3-6, 2011
National/International Conference	National Leadership Conference (NLC) Attended by members from the US in addition to Canada, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, and myriad countries in Europe Location: Orlando, Florida Date: June 28-July 1, 2011	International Career Development Conference (ICDC) Attended by members from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guam, Germany, Hong Kong (pending), and South Korea (pending) Location: Orlando, Florida Date: April 30-May 3, 2011
Organization Information
Meeting Times	Thursdays, Lunch in P6	Wednesdays, Lunch in P6
Study Sessions	Saturday, typically 1:00-4:00	Saturday, typically 11:00-3:00
Prelims	Holistic selection process based on competency in subject area, speaking ability (for oral competitions) and work ethic. Almost all members will receive a competition.	MVDECA does not hold preliminaries for competition. Any member who wishes to compete may do so for NorCal.
Membership Dues	$35.00	$45.00
Alumni Futures	Alumni have gone to schools such as Stanford, Cornell, Duke, UC Berkeley, Princeton, USC, UCLA, Brown, NYU, University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, Middlebury, Pomona and Wharton at UPenn.	Alumni have been accepted by top schools, including Harvard, Stanford, UPenn (Wharton), NYU (Stern), MIT, John Hopkins University, Wellesley, UC Berkeley, USC, and Carnegie Mellon University.

The above has been verified by the Office of the President of Monta Vista DECA.

I'm not interested in business. Can I still join?
Sure! MVFBLA offers you many opportunities outside of pure business - our competitions span from business to programming and software development, and we offer workshops and opportunities to learn skills that will serve you no matter what career you decide to pursue.

Are all competitions tests?
Of course not! We get enough of them at Monta Vista already :P While we do offer tests (written competitions), we have oral competitions such as Business Presentation or Parliamentary Procedure, and also technology competitions such as Internet Applications Programming.

What kind of activities do you do in FBLA besides competing?
Besides competitions, we have exciting projects and workshops, in addition to fun conferences. Besides just being a club where you can gain experience and learn new skills, FBLA is an opportunity to meet new people and network with people from all grades at Monta Vista, establishing life-long friendships. More than just a club, FBLA is a lifestyle. An FBLAmazing lifestyle!