Sheridan takes on OCMC 2015
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JESSICA ROVEDA
Sheridan’s marketing and advertising students can take a well-deserved bow after winning fourth place overall in this year’s Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition.
Hosted by George Brown College, the event took place at the Hilton Toronto Nov. 26 and 27. It put the skills of marketing students from 12 Ontario colleges to the test through a series of individual contests and team-based case challenges.
For Sheridan Pilon School of Business students, expectations were high to match last year’s first-place win. That didn’t happen, but the team was still thrilled when the announcer called their name.

Stephen Kostuk and Liz May, first place winners of Integrated Marketing Communications, share a hug to celebrate their big win.
Winning fourth place in Quiz Bowl, first place in Integrated Marketing Communications, fifth place in Retail, and second place in both Marketing Research and Prospect Pitching gave Sheridan a total of 29 out of 40 possible points to place them behind overall third-place winner Seneca College, second-place winner St. Lawrence College, and first-place winner Conestoga College.
The 22 students who participated walked away with more than just plaques. “[The competition] looks great on a resume, and it’s great for personal mentoring,” said Lori Elliott, Job Interview coach and associate dean of the Pilon School of Business at Davis Campus.
Rachel Phelps, 28, is one of two students who earned second place in Prospect Pitching. “[The competition] definitely helped me figure out a little bit more about what I want to do now.”
In addition to opportunities for future success, the experience as a whole made a positive impact on the students involved.
“It feels so amazing to take the stage and see your team right in front of you cheering (you) on,” said Melissa Colella, 28, who led Sheridan to fourth place in the Quiz Bowl event. “We worked so hard and we trained so hard for this.”
Karen Booth, coach for Prospect Pitching and marketing professor at HMC said students begin training two or three hours weekly for the OCMC as early as summer – and continue right up until the competition.
“We have a wrap-up celebration on Dec. 9 with other OCMC alumni students,” said Booth. “Then, starting February 2016, we still start recruiting and tryouts for OCMC 2016, which will be hosted by Conestoga College.”
Sheridan has been participating in the competition for over 25 years. It has earned first place in 2014, 2012, and 2010.
Sheridan hosted the competition in 2010, and will do so again in 2020.
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- Emily O’Gorman, Marianne Sy-Lucero, Jeryl Torres, Melissa Collela: Sheridan’s Quiz Bowl team.
- Team Sheridan during some downtime before the Quiz Bowl.
- Camila Lobos and Jonathan Sharpe, Retail team, with Allan Linklater.
- Samantha Botelho and Codie Black, International Marketing team, with Jim Deakin.
- Humza Imran and Lorraine Cipparrone.
- Liz May, Shamelle Sutton, and Janelle Parent enjoying dinner before the Quiz Bowl.
- Team jackets sported the “#BestInBlue” hashtag to showcase Sheridan’s school spirit.
- Pilon School of Business faculty coach Keith Barnwell hosted the OCMC 2015 Quiz Bowl competition.
- Jeryl Torres takes to the Quiz Bowl stage to represent Sheridan
- Coaches Lori Elliott and Lorraine Cipparrone.
- Lauryn Anderson and Quinn Williams.
- The Sheridan Pilon School of Business students and coaches were dressed to the nines for Friday night’s award ceremony.
- Stephen Kostuk and Liz May, first place winners of Integrated Marketing Communications, share a hug to celebrate their big win.
- Stephen Kostuk and Liz May pose with their first place plaques for Integrated Marketing Communications.
- Nerves are high as students anticipate the announcement of which schools placed in the competition.
- Lauryn Anderson and Quinn Williams, second-place winners, Marketing Research, pose with their plaques.
- Adam Madill, Rachel Phelps, and coach Karen Booth share a hug to celebrate the announcement of their second place win for Prospect Pitching.
- Adam Madill and Rachel Phelps, second-place winners of Prospect Pitching with coach Karen Booth.