2022

After responding to the challenges of the global pandemic and holding CoMIS 2021 virtually, we were very excited to welcome competitors back to the Carlson School of Management for an in-person competition in 2022. From March 23-26, 19 incredible schools joined us from around the world to compete, network, and get a taste of what the Twin Cities has to offer.

24-Hour Case

The case for CoMIS 2022 was graciously provided by Carousel Digital Signage. Competing teams were presented with the case on Friday morning and given 24 hours to deliberate, form solutions, and present to judges. The case itself was centered around Carousel Digital Signage, a company that develops software to easily maintain and update digital signage used for displaying images, video, or multimedia content. Competitors were asked to analyze Carousel's position both during and coming out of the pandemic, paying special attention to:

• Innovating the technology to respond to the needs of a virtual world
• Dealing with the complications of COVID
• Making the product integral to the customer's visual communication strategy
• Marketing a SaaS (software as a service) product, especially to the late majority
• Enhancing the product's value proposition

Teams were divided into groups for the 24-hour preliminary round. After presenting to the judges, teams who placed first in their group were admitted to the Final Round while second-place teams moved on to the Lightning Round.

Lightning Round

The Lightning round is unique to CoMIS and tests teams on their understanding of the case. Of the four competing teams, only one will progress into the final. The Lightning Round proceeds as follows:

• Four questions are asked by the moderator 
• After each question, teams are given 2 minutes in breakout rooms to deliberate and provide an answer
• Teams return to the main meeting room and are given up to 1 minute to respond
• This is repeated four more times after which judges determine the two teams.

After intense competition, Indiana University claimed the valuable final spot in the final round.

Final Round

In the final round, teams were given one last challenge. The Zap Factor, a last second twist on the business problem, is presented to teams. They then have 30 minutes to analyze and incorporate this problem into their prepared solution before presenting to the judges.

All five teams gave outstanding presentations but three teams were honored at the closing dinner and one CoMIS champion was crowned.

Once again, we would like to thank all teams, coaches, judges, speakers, and sponsors (with special thanks to Carousel Digital Signage) for your contributions to CoMIS 2022. We hope to see you all again next year!