Students had the opportunity to experience business travel while still in high school. On top of that, they also got to see what it’s like to attend an event very similar to a professional association’s annual conference at the 2025 DECA International Career Development Conference, held in Orlando in April.

“This year’s conference featured over 25,000 attendees—most of them are high school students and their teachers who join DECA as they prepare for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management,” says Christopher Young, CAE, chief program officer for DECA Inc.

“From our Grand Opening Session to competitive events and leadership academies to networking events at Universal Orlando Florida and Islands of Adventure and an adrenaline-packed Grand Awards Session, it’s a blend of education, networking, professionalism.”

DECA members prepare the entire school year for the opportunity to compete and earn the international champion honor, according to Young.

“DECA’s International Career Development Conference allows them to do just that, and the in-person experience is so important so they can interact with a business professional to demonstrate their knowledge and skills directly across the table from them,” he says.

The most significant challenge in planning the 2025 conference in Orlando was what many would call “a good problem to have”: record attendance, a 3,500-attendee increase over the prior DECA conference in Orlando (2023).

“The additional attendance meant adding a hall for our general sessions which then had a domino effect on the rest of our space,” Young says. “Our conferences services team at the convention center as well as Freeman were helpful in making these swift changes. We also had to secure additional hotels and increase our blocks literally overnight. Orlando is terrifically positioned for this significant growth because of the scale of their facilities and hotel footprint.”

A significant impact

Part of what makes the DECA conference successful is the engagement of more than 1,000 volunteer business professionals with DECA members, Young says.

“In partnership with Visit Orlando and the greater business community, DECA was able to recruit more than enough volunteers to provide the learning experience to our members,” he says. “Visit Orlando went above and beyond this year to partner with DECA in promoting the volunteer opportunity to its members and explaining the significant impact that DECA provides not only immediately on the local area but also for the future of our workforce.”

Orlando is a great fit for DECA because it’s built for large-scale meetings, according to Young.

“It’s one of the few cities that can meet our requirements. With a large number of attendees who are high school students, our needs directly impact the attendee experience and include criteria such as convention center space, proximity of hotels with significant number of double/double beds and an infrastructure to host over 25,000 attendees,” he says. “Not only does Orlando offer a world-class convention center and hotel package, but it also offers opportunities for our attendees to experience the theme parks when they are finished with their educational sessions. Our attendees enjoy our DECA Night at Universal Orlando Florida and Islands of Adventure, and it sells out every year.”