Where the competition year is decided
Our members compete at the regional, state, and international levels. Every member who wants to compete gets a competitive event, gets prepared for it, and gets on the bus to the regional conference. What happens after that is up to the judges.
The regional conference
Kentucky DECA divides the commonwealth into regions, and this is where your competition year starts. Results at region decide who advances to the state conference, and how many advance depends on the quota published for your event.
The State Career Development Conference
The State Career Development Conference, or SCDC, is held in Louisville. It decides Kentucky placement and sets the Kentucky delegation to the international conference. Kentucky DECA publishes the schedule, the events handbook, and the SCDC dress code on its student resources page.
The International Career Development Conference
ICDC brings together more than 25,000 students, advisors, and business professionals for several days of competition, leadership sessions, and recognition, and more than 10,000 of them compete. Atlanta hosted it in 2026. The 2027 conference is in Anaheim, California on April 17-20. If you earn a place at state, you have earned your place there.
Conference dates as we confirm them
We have not confirmed this year's conference dates yet. They appear here as soon as Kentucky DECA publishes them, and they arrive automatically if you subscribe to the chapter calendar.
What a trip costs your family
Chapter travel is budgeted so that the three largest expenses never decide whether a student competes.
The chapter covers
Transportation, hotel accommodations, and conference registration.
Families cover
Meals during travel, and optional entertainment such as show tickets or amusement park admission on trips that offer it.
We publish a per-trip itinerary before every conference with the exact number of meals to budget for. Membership dues are separate from travel and are handled at the start of the year: $30 for 2026-27, paid by cash or by check made out to Lafayette High School. If cost is a concern for your family, contact Mr. Hoertz directly.
The questions families ask first
Yes. To register for and attend any DECA conference, a student must be a paid DECA member on an official roster, and dues have to reach DECA before the relevant deadline. That is why we set a chapter deadline in the fall. If you miss it, ask anyway, because depending on the timing there may still be a path.
Business professional. At the regional and state conferences that means a suit, sport coat, or blazer with dress slacks, or a professional dress or knee-length skirt, plus a collared shirt or blouse and dress shoes. Kentucky DECA does not require an official DECA blazer at the state conference. It is required at ICDC when you appear before a judge or on stage. Our dress code page walks through all three levels of dress. If a student does not own these clothes, tell Mr. Hoertz early. The chapter can help, and it stays private.
By placing at state. A member competes at region, advances to the State Career Development Conference in Louisville, and the top finishers in each event there earn a place at the International Career Development Conference.
The chapter covers transportation, hotel accommodations, and conference registration for every conference we attend. Families are responsible for meals during travel and for optional entertainment, such as show tickets or an amusement park on trips that offer it. That is the whole list. We fundraise and budget specifically so that the three largest expenses are never the reason a student stays home. Before every trip we send an itinerary that says exactly how many meals to plan for and whether anything optional is on the schedule, so you can budget with real numbers instead of guessing. Membership dues are separate and are handled at the start of the year. If cost is still a concern, email Mr. Hoertz. We will work it out, and it stays between us.
Yes, and most first-year members do. You would usually start in a Principles of Business Administration event, which DECA writes specifically for individual first-year DECA members. It does not matter what year of school you are in.
No. Plenty of members compete at region, work on chapter projects, serve the community, and never leave Lexington. Travel is an opportunity, not a requirement.
Get on the roster before our chapter deadline.
Conference registration is open only to students who are paid DECA members on an official roster, and dues have to be received and processed before conference deadlines, which is why we set our chapter deadline in the fall. If you miss it, come talk to Mr. Hoertz anyway. Depending on the timing there may still be a path, and there is definitely a place for you in the chapter.