DECA U gets smoked: Club in sights of gravy train

Smoke’s Poutinerie is bringing the World of Major League Eating to university campuses across Canada, and one McMaster club is at the forefront of partnering with Smokes on this event.

The Hamilton leg of the World Poutine-Eating Championship: Campus Edition kicks off at McMaster’s own Homecoming on Oct. 13. DECA U Executives are currently speaking with MSU representatives to ascertain if this event can be part of the official Homecoming schedule.

The DECA U club first found out they were selected as one of the national semi-finalists of the Smoke’s Competition on Sept 19. The campaign to gain support for their club and promote Smoke’s World Poutine Eating Championship started immediately.

During the first ten days of the campaign, DECA U has been trying to gain support through social media channels. The next ten days of the campaign will focus on promoting the specific poutine-eating event on Oct. 13.

The franchise first hosted and organized the World Poutine-Eating Championship in 2010 in Toronto. This will be the first-ever World Poutine-Eating Championship: Campus Edition. Students will race to eat poutine as fast as they can in competition to win sponsorship in funding for McMaster’s own DECA U Club.

DECA U is ramping up to choose four McMaster students to compete in the contest. All of the Canadian university teams are competing with each other for the best times. The teams with the most amount of support accumulated on social media platforms and the best team eating times will then secure the first prize of $2,500.

The McMaster DECA U Chapter was formed at Mac in 2007. The club seeks to provide professional development for its members through entering in business case study competitions with universities across Canada. Case study competitions typically examine industry issues in marketing, finance, services and business administration.

DECA U’s initiative this year is to provide the enhanced value for its members, academically and socially. They hope to further redevelop their training modules and run their own case competitions as well as broaden their membership body if they receive the Smokes sponsorship.

Palika Kohli, VP Marketing for DECA U stated her desire to build the club’s brand on campus and specifically attract a higher diversity of members from a variety of faculties.

“The sponsorship is for DECA U…but it’s really about Mac winning this [nationally],” said Kohli