FBLA high school members will be able to participate in both qualifying rounds for both tracks of this Virtual Business Challenge (VBC) event. One track focuses on personal finance, and the other, management. Each track encourages FBLA members to test their skills within its particular Virtual Business environment – individually or as a team of up to three members. Team registration begins on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
Click here to view a video on how to register for the FBLA Virtual Business Challenge:
The Virtual Business Personal Finance Challenge encourages FBLA members to test their financial literacy skills. Participating teams will be making personal finance decisions for a simulated person. The concepts students will be managing include opening bank accounts, paying bills, filing taxes, applying for jobs, enrolling in educational courses, paying for goods, applying for credit cards, determining schedules, budgeting, and more. For each round, teams will be ranked based on their person’s net worth after running the simulation for two virtual years.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: It has come to our attention that there is a discrepancy with the instructions that we provide within the competition simulation file for this event. The left side text within the simulation file instructs participants to use the name “John” for their character when applying for a job. The name that participants should use when applying for a job is “Kai Walker” which is the name listed on the resume. We apologize for this issue.
The FBLA Virtual Business Management Challenge encourages FBLA members to test their skills at managing either a bicycle manufacturing business or a blue jeans manufacturing business. Students will be limited as to which concepts they are able to control during each of the qualifying rounds. What participants control will include various combinations of the following concepts: recruiting/hiring/supervising employees, risk management, organizing floor layouts, bidding on orders and more. For each round, teams will be ranked based on their business’ cumulative profit after running the simulation for six virtual months.
Awards
First & Second Challenge: (Top eight nationally ranked teams)
- Recognition under the FBLA area at www.KnowledgeMatters.com
FBLA VBC Final Round (Both Tracks)
National Champions – 1st Place
- $1,000/team
2nd Place
- $500/team
3rd Place
- $250/team
Teams that place first through tenth within the final round of both VBC tracks will be recognized at the NLC.
Recent Competition Winners
Management Winners:
1st place $1,000 – Jay, North Daviess High School (MO)
2nd place $500 – Roger L., Quinn K. & Viraj G., Los Osos High School (CA)
3rd place $250 – Tanzil K., Sebastian G & Rishith A, Suncoast Community High School (FL)
Finance Winners:
1st place $1,000 – Matteo C. & Kameron R., Waterloo High School (WI)
2nd place $500 – Daniel T., Greenway High School (AZ)
3rd place $250 – Gavin C., Cartersville High School (GA)
Dates & Details
FBLA high school members will be able to participate in both tracks of this event. Each track encourages FBLA members to test their skills within its particular Virtual Business environment – individually or as a team of up to 3 members.
There are two rounds for each track of the event. Both tracks will utilize limited function online competition versions of our simulations for the first and second rounds. Students who are currently using, or who have previously used one of our online simulations (Accounting, Hotel, Restaurant, Personal Finance, Retailing, Management or Sports and Entertainment) may use their existing accounts to participate. Students who have not used our online simulations will be given the opportunity to create a new account free of charge.
Team registration for this event will begin on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. There will be two rounds (Challenges) held via the Internet during the school year. The first challenge is October 14, 2024, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time – November 8, 2024, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time and the second challenge is February 3, 2025, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time – February 28, 2025, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
At the conclusion of both rounds of the FBLA Virtual Business Challenges, the teams that qualified to compete in the final round for this event which will be held virtually will be notified by National FBLA. Chapter advisers must notify National FBLA if their VBC qualifiers will be participating within the final round. The final round dates will be announced soon.
Rules
ELIGIBILITY: High school members of FBLA chapters are eligible to participate. All participants must have current dues on file at FBLA prior to the submission of any VBC files to Knowledge Matters. A FBLA chapter may have as many teams as it can support according to the team membership rules. All membership questions will be handled by FBLA.
TEAM MEMBERSHIP: Teams must consist of one to three FBLA members. All rankings and awards are based on the team and not the individual. A team member cannot be on more than one team per event at a time. No additional team members may be added once a team has registered. If a team member drops off a team or a team is to be dissolved, an e-mail from the team’s FBLA adviser acknowledging the removal must be sent to VBCCentral@KnowledgeMatters.com stating the team name and the team member(s) to be removed. An acknowledgment from Knowledge Matters confirming the team member update will be sent back to the FBLA adviser. If this acknowledgment is not received, it will be the responsibility of the team to resubmit the request via the advisor of the team. Once the acknowledgment is received, the individual is free to register a new team. All maintenance and compliance monitoring of the teams will be the responsibility of the team’s FBLA adviser. Team names must generally adhere to FBLA’s code of ethics. Team names deemed inappropriate according to National FBLA will be renamed with the name of their local chapter without notice. National FBLA will have the ultimate authority to resolve team membership & name disputes.
CODE OF CONDUCT: Participants agree to compete by the Rules of Competition listed on this page. Participants further agree that all work submitted is work done by the participant or the participant’s registered teammates. Participants understand that any attempt to hack or cheat the simulation is grounds for removal from the competition and possible further actions. The use of external applications, browser extensions or built-in browser tools within our competition simulations is strictly forbidden. If we detect this has occurred, there will be immediate disqualification. Participants agree to refer any questions on what may constitute a cheat to Knowledge Matters for a decision. Inquiries must be submitted through the Knowledge Matters’ support system, and must contain “Official Ruling Requested” within the title of the inquiry.
UPDATE: It has come to our attention that a former competitor may be offering assistance to teams via social media. As a reminder, it is against the rules of this event to accept or pay for assistance from anyone not a member of your team, including former Virtual Business Challenge competitors.
All participants agree to be bound by the following Honor Code: I pledge that all work submitted is that of me or my teammates, solely. I have received no outside help with the challenge. I pledge not to hack or cheat in any way and agree to report others that I am aware of who hack or cheat.
Additionally, because the VBCs are interstate competitions for prize money, participants who hack or cheat may be subject to penalties under federal, state or local cybercrime or anti-hacking laws.
QUALIFIER RULES:The top twenty nationally ranked teams per round from both tracks of the event qualify to compete in the final round of the event. A maximum of one team, per state, per round, per track is eligible to qualify for the finals. Teams that qualify during round one may participate, but will not be ranked in round two. If a participant/team qualifiers for the final round within both tracks of the VBC, the participant/team must choose the VBC track in which they would like to participate during the final round.
SCORES: A team’s actual numeric score will not be posted on the rankings page. Bars symbolizing a team’s score will be posted instead. Numeric amounts will not be released during the Challenge rounds. In the event of a tie, the team with the earliest file submission will rank higher, so it is important to get your files ranked early in the Challenge.
Support
Due to the high volume of teams participating in the VBC, all questions regarding the VBC should be submitted via email. Please fill out this form and submit it to Knowledge Matters, Inc. Emails will be answered in the order in which they are received during Knowledge Matters, Inc. business hours which are Mon-Fri from 8:30AM-5:00PM Eastern Time.
Disclaimer
Each team and its members are responsible for having read all the guidelines. National FBLA and Knowledge Matters, Inc. are not responsible for an entry that is late, lost, misdirected, or not received. Only entries that are received by Knowledge Matters, Inc. will be eligible for scoring and ranking. All technical issues should be directed to our support team as soon as possible for resolution. Because of the wide variation in computer systems, Knowledge Matters, Inc. assumes no responsibility for the performance of its software on participants’ computers. It is the team members’ responsibility to check this page for late breaking news or updates.
Contact
Technical Support Questions
Chapter Participation Questions
Mike Hyatt, Development Manager, FBLA
mhyatt@fbla.org
703.860.0842
http://www.fbla-pbl.org/