Hogan excels at speed sell

Hogan's accomplishment ended a two-year drought at RBI for the Sales Rangers and is the first award in speed sell since Parkside began competing at RBI in 2008.

Hogan's award is also the 26th in the past five years for UW-Parkside business students at sales and marketing competitions across the country.

At RBI, Hogan competed against 80 participants, the largest field ever in the speed-sell category. Speed sell requires developing and presenting a two-minute "elevator pitch" as to why the candidate should be hired for a sales position. According to Associate Professor of Business Dr. Peter Knight, chair of the UW-Parkside Business Department, Hogan presented his pitch to five industry sales executives, one at time, in the opening round.

In the final round, the four finalists each presented to just one sales executive and the presentation was webcast to a large audience in an adjacent auditorium. "Clearly, Rob made an impression with the sponsors," Knight said. Hogan received a job offer as a sales manager trainee for a global Fortune 500 company and was pursued and interviewed by a number of others.

Knight credited Tali Torhorst, a junior in accounting and business from Lake Geneva, Wis., with a strong effort in speed sell, noting that Torhorst gained a lead for an internship in fashion merchandising.

In the role-play competition, Parkside was one of only 11 schools among the 40 participating that had its team advance to the second round. Although rankings are not available until December and Parkside did not gain a top-four team finish, Knight said it is likely that Hogan and Torhorst will have surpassed last year's ninth-place team finish at RBI.

Sarah Porter - semi-finalist

Sarah Porter - 4th place, role play

Kyle Hagemann – 2nd place, in-basket

Kyle Hagemann and Sarah Porter - 3rd place, team

Kyle Hagemann - quarter finalist

Kyle Hagemann - 2nd place, role play

Kyle Hagemann - 2nd place, overall

Kyle Hagemann and Mike Rosales - 3rd place, team

Kyle Hagemann - quarter finalist

Amanda Frank - champion, MBA Division Round 1

Amanda Frank and Andrew Loosen - champion, MBA Division Round 2

MBA Division Team, second place

Mike Anderson - quarter finalist

David Kirkeby - 2nd place, MBA Division Round 1

Will Cray - 3rd place, MBA Division Round 3

MBA Division Team, 3rd place

Will Cray - 4th place

Beatrice Williams - 3rd place, sales

Eric Nass and Will Cray - 1st place, marketing strategy

Team Award - first place

Josh Frazier - 1st place, individual award

Carlyse Mayfield - 1st place, individual award

Jeremy Mishork - 1st place, individual award

Nate Whittaker - 1st place, individual award

Rob Hogan - 4th place, speed sell