Something I didn’t know existed, the Microsoft Office World Championship

On a Sunday night two weeks back, in the Rose Court Garden of the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, 150 antsy competitors between the ages of 13 and 22 milled around eating miniature whoopie pies by the light of the Moon, sizing up their global rivals in the efficient use of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

It was as if the Olympics opening ceremony was replaced by a networking event: teens were decked out in national T-shirts, while others handed out business cards specially made for the event. At one table off by the bar, two chaperones nudged their folding chairs closer together and taught each other how to say hello (“Yassas,” “Ciao”) in their respective mother tongues. In the distance, through the palms, the tiki torches of Trader Sam’s, the hotel’s poolside lounge, were flickering into the black sky.

Source: The Docx games: three days at the Microsoft Office World Championship – The Verge

The national test rewards the students who have the ability to use their Microsoft Office product of choice effectively. Instead of taking a test, the students have to re-create a document from the assets, data, and representation of the final product. Sounds really cool!