Dan Kastner- Running for President '12-'13

[premiershine9]

Hello MM,

My name is Dan and many of you know me as the detail dude/ detailer Dan. I have been an active member of MM for just a little over a year now after tagging along to some MM events last year when Jake was president. Thanks to Natalie D, Mark, Jake and the many others whom I first met and made my first couple days with MM very welcoming.

About me: (small bio)
Year- Junior- will be senior next year ('13 grad)
Major- Health Service Administration (I want to run a hospital)
Minor- Business
Hometown- Ramsey, New Jersey (yes I'm from rich guidoville, NO I'm not Italian or a guido...those of you who know me know I HATE NJ...

Accomplishments/ leadership roles
- Eagle Scout, led my troop for 2 years, various other leadership positions inside troop as well

- Owner/ Operator of my own company- Premier Shine Auto Detailing
- fully registered sole-proprietorship in NJ
- over 1 year fully recognized- 8 years total practicing business
- work with clients and cars ranging from $20,000 to $250,000
......this company is what I am most proud of and is my BABY

James Madison Society of Entrepreneurs
- One of the original members of the James Madison Society of Entrepreneurs

Why do I LOVE cars?
- My love for cars (crazy obsession) came around when I was real young. My younger brother and I (one year apart) were fighting a ton and not getting along. We went to our family counselor as a last resort, yes it got that bad, and the shrink suggested I took up a hobby or found something to do with my dad. Later on that day my Dad and I picked out a Blue/white striped Viper GTS model to put together. I built the model and brought it with me to school- seriously I fucking loved the thing. Washed it in the water fountain after lunch and treasured it (first detail). Soon enough I met my best friend whom also was a gear head and had parents who were car nuts themselves. Fast forward 12 years later and I'm completely hooked reading 5 magazines subscriptions a month and feeding my need by taking my passion for cars and developing a company that allows me to work on them after years of hard work. Pretty cool to see your hard work pay off when you are working on the cars you used to play on your Playstation! :thumbup: Needless to say, I am a car/ gear head for life :twisted:

Why am I in MM/ why do I love MM?
- I found out about MM through meeting some older members whom were seniors at the time- Jake, Natalie, David and a couple others. After attending a couple events I knew I was in the club for the long haul. Summer came and I communicated with most of you alumn through my detailing posts or by working with some of you during the last fall semester. What I really loved about the club was the alumni network and to be honest, those were the first people I had met and really connected with in the club soon after. As mentioned above I am a gear head and anything about the car industry is what I am passionate about. That being said, MM is the only club on campus I really ever wanted to be apart of. I have taken my passion and turned it into my own company/job to support myself through high-school and now college and I plan on taking the same passion and putting it into my leadership position as president of MM so that the club can be at its best!

Why do I want to be President?
- The past is the past and there is no need to bring up another discussion about this past year. That being said I will only focus on what skills/ attributes I posses that will make me a good fit as president and not comment anymore about this previous year OR nit pick any mistake made and promise to do the opposite. If you are looking to take a mistake and ask me what I am going to do instead to avoid that.....fine by me I'll answer it to the best of my ability and to what I honestly think myself and MORE IMPORTANTLY what myself and the other Exec's will work together on as a whole to fulfill that need/ situation.

- I feel that the skills and attributes I possess, as a young leader will be the greatest items I can bring to the club. My past leadership experience has allowed me to learn and grow into someone who can effectively manage, delegate and encourage teamwork between many individuals. My interpersonal skill from working with clientele whom are VERY wealthy and of high status in their careers has allowed me to become an effective communicator. Owning my own company and business has lead to me become self-proficient in virtually every different areas of business. For the past 8 years it has been a one man show- I put myself out there, advertise, make connections, maintain relationships and continuously strive to become both a better professional detailer and more importantly a much more knowledgeable businessman. Creating, owning and raising my company to the point where it is today has taught me many, many different valuable lessons. It is with these valuable lessons that I plan to take with me when working with the other executive officers to take MM up to the level it should be currently running at as a club.

What I hope to change/ work towards

I'll just list a bunch of obvious, general goals that I WANT to see MM adopt/ possess/ complete by next year.
- Membership growth
- Increased membership involvement
- WORKING WITH THE SCHOOL more- relentlessly knocking at their door, theyÔÇÖve got to answer sometime, after all failing is the road to achieving!
- more events
........capitalizing on the ones that we somehow never got time to do
- fundraisers
- exec's utilizing essentially our greatest/ cheapest resource- THE ALUMNI
- developing new ways alumni can be apart of our decisions and ideas- meeting minutes, agendas, proposals and also vid cam into our executive meetings
- social/ events other than the motorsport-related type
- effective communication across all channels
- effective communication and task completion among the executive committee
- Weekly/ bi-weekly meetings (all of club) AND ALSO once a week Executive council WILL meet (weekend) to plan, discuss and prepare for event coming up/ next meeting
- Active engagement and suggestions for all members

Summer plans- All exec council members will utilize a collaboration method- Google+, video chat etc. to communicate up to 2 or more hours a week (one session) during the summer to collaborate and come up with a long list of:
- Event ideas
- social meeting ideas
- fundraising events
etc...... so that by the time Fall semester rolls around, we are picking from our list and confirming dates for what is to happen during the fall semester....not planning during the semester or the week of Sept. 1st. During this time ALL alumni will be able to view a summary of our minutes from these summer collaborative sessions and add or comment on our ideas!

Alumni + Cooperative exec. council + 1-2 hours a week in the summer = One hell of a great pre- semester head start and list of compiled ideas and events for all MM members/ alumni to participate in. Come Fall it will be plug and chug into the calendar.
There are many other ideas and thoughts I would love to share about the past and also what we as a club need to do moving forward. I cannot make any promises yet and I do not make promises that I know I cannot keep. I want to take the valuable leadership and administrative experience and resources I have obtained from successfully running a company....mold them into my passion for motorsports and cars and bring back the MM I know it should be.

I do not know everything there is to running this show, but I will work my ass off and utilize as many resources/ knowledge you alumni have to give me.

New slate, new year, lets move forward.

Please, PLEASE contact me if you need to. Don't know me very well and want to talk? Cool!
Here is every which possible way you can contact me:

cell- 201 264 7095
House address- 1191 Meridian Circle Apt. 102 in H'burg of course

e-mail:
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:dan@premiershinedetail.com">dan@premiershinedetail.com</a><!-- e -->
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:kastnedl@dukes.jmu.edu">kastnedl@dukes.jmu.edu</a><!-- e -->
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:dkast24@aol.com">dkast24@aol.com</a><!-- e -->
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:kastner.dan9@gmail.com">kastner.dan9@gmail.com</a><!-- e -->

I am still a full time student and I am going to be up to 1 or 2 from now until finals are over so if I cannot answer your question within a couple hours- sorry, I am a full time student.

Thanks all!
- Dan Kastner :thumbup:

[Cody]

Dan, putting that much time in over the summer will really help set you and exec up for success. I HIGHLY suggest you look into the Senate Finance Committee on the SGA website and look at program grants. We can receive up to $7,000 dollars as a one time event booster and if you and the team can come up with a way to build the event enough this year that it can be self sufficient in the future we'll have a chance to own a large event (such as the college auto X) ourselves. Also, read up on contingency which can put some extra cash in our pocket to buy infrastructure (specifically a 4 legged tent) that would give us a presence at track events in the paddock and around campus. While this is a task the treasurer has to fill, it's important for you to be well versed as well.

What experience do you have with working with University Unions and event planning on campus?

How do you plan to grow membership and keep students involved right off the bat?

Our club constitution needs an update bad... really bad. Would you consider making removing an inactive officer a quicker process?

[premiershine9]

Excellent! Thank you Cody! I will take a look and become very familiar with the committee. Sounds like the contingency $ will be able to be done.
I'm sure by the time the first couple weeks come to a close during the fall semester the committee will have talked with myself and the execs, specifically the treasurer. One thing I really want to do is push as hard as we can to make JMU work for us as much as they can.
- D

[NTIman]

Over the time I have been involved with MM, it seems that there is less involvement at events at Summit Point (flagging, driving, working, etc...), and frankly, I was pretty disappointed that more current students weren't participating in the first auto-x this year at Verona.

From my experience, it is hard to get excited about motorsports until you've hopped in a car yourself and gotten then adrenaline rush that is associated with it. Also, I do realize that worker spots with NASA are at a premium compared to how it was a few years ago, but I still feel like getting really involved with NASA is a fruitful fruitful way of keeping people interested in the club.

How do you plan to get more interested in participating in events?

[Kaan]

Over the time I have been involved with MM, it seems that there is less involvement at events at Summit Point (flagging, driving, working, etc...), and frankly, I was pretty disappointed that more current students weren't participating in the first auto-x this year at Verona.

I'd also like to see more kids coming to events just a hour or so away. VIR is the "hot" track in the area, but i can promise addiction to the gofastcrackpipe if they take a spin at summit.

MM is a well aged club full of opinions and peering eyes :evil: There are ups and down with the position you would like to hold. Are you sure you have the interpersonal skills to handle extreme criticism?

You also own your own business. Its not something to take lightly. I understand you make your own schedule but leading MM can demand a lot of time. How do you intend to manage your time for MM and your livelihood?

[D_Eclipse9916]

You also own your own business. Its not something to take lightly. I understand you make your own schedule but leading MM can demand a lot of time. How do you intend to manage your time for MM and your livelihood?

This is a high concern for me. I really like how you participate currently on the forums, but what direction are you taking your business, you always say you are very busy. Could this interrupt the progress of MM?

[premiershine9]

You also own your own business. Its not something to take lightly. I understand you make your own schedule but leading MM can demand a lot of time. How do you intend to manage your time for MM and your livelihood?

This is a high concern for me. I really like how you participate currently on the forums, but what direction are you taking your business, you always say you are very busy. Could this interrupt the progress of MM?

I knew this was to be brought up and i can't believe I forgot to address this. My business right now is making me a good deal of money for a college kid- however I am not continuing detailing as a career since 10-13k a year is not reasonable at all. Come Fall and Spring (next year) I will be stepping back and slowly putting an end to the work and also Premier Shine. Occasionally doing work here and there on the weekends when time allows it (after MM events) and ONLY when I go home for breaks. After summer is over I am no longer working 5 to 6 days a week and with how this summer is looking I will not need to work as much as I did this year during the spring or fall. As soon as summer ends, business and a new program I am rolling out back home will be put on the back burner. School and MM will be numero uno and numero dos.
I am an honest person and also very realistic, I know where my priorities are and i'll throw them out there for you.

Time management is not a concern for me, managing my own business for the past 8 years has taught me how to effectively manage time.

If you would like a list of my priorities come next fall well then here you go:

1. Family- almost lost my mother twice and needless to say if I need to excuse myself for a weekend because of her health I will do so
2. School- I am not paying 30k a year down here not be a full time student, neither are the other execs, sorry but mom and dad are giving me 4 years no more. I'm lucky to be in school and have two great parents who support me with a tuition.
3. MM
4. Business- which will be faded out completely by the end of fall
5. JMU society of Entrepreneurs

Also- when I say "I am crazy busy" as in lately my response to some of you alumni here's why- I have a growing demand right now with work detail wise, also most of these clients- including most of you alumni, want me to travel- apologies but I currently need the weekends to study for finals which are in a week and a half. So, by using my gut knowledge I say NO and push all the detailing crap till after school ( what is most important to me).

So, in a nutshell I intend to manage my time between school and MM in the near future just as I always have, effectively managing my time and priorities...I know the responsibility I am taking here and what I need to budget come fall when the Exec's and I start executing. I've been looking for something to replace detailing......I am stepping away from the industry and my company come fall and replacing it with the two most important things I need to work on before I graduate- school and my passion which is (like I stated above) the car industry---- and MM will allow me to do that.

Premier Shine is my baby and I have worked my ass off for 8 long years and made a ton of connections and relationships with various people but I know what is realistic and although i don't want to let the company go, Its going to be shoved in the closet come fall till I'm moved somewhere after graduating, established a career and get decently settled. Hope that answers your question on where I plan to take my company.

Also- with 3 other execs whom so far have shown me so much effort and excitement for next year, I feel that collectively we will do very well come game day in August.
- D

[Kaan]

thank you for the over explaination.

[premiershine9]

MM is a well aged club full of opinions and peering eyes :evil: There are ups and down with the position you would like to hold. Are you sure you have the interpersonal skills to handle extreme criticism?


Yes- I honestly believe I do so! No one is perfect and I doubt I will be 100% correct 100% of the time.....it is apart of becoming an effective leader. I really have enjoyed meeting the alumni and working with them. I WANT to work with all of you (alumni) to get your feedback and ideas. I WANT you to see what I am doing and sit over my shoulder and view where myself and the other execs are gong/ want to do next year. Communicating with people is something I enjoy doing as is being very social.....I'd much rather you call me or meet face to face to talk them play e-mail tag. Give me communication and feedback so I don't make the mistake again. If I don't know something, I'm going to look for you all (alumni) to help! From my experience with literally hundreds of clients i've served I've taken all levels of criticism..... I can take it.

Criticize me and rant but what i'm going to be looking for is a main take- away. If you don't have some important piece of information to put across in front of me or tell me what I did wrong so I may learn from my mistake.....its just going to go in one ear and out the other. Chances are if for some reason next year you (Kaan) need to really lay on me or point me out....I probably fucked up....and I'm smart enough to know I did something wrong as well.
Hope this helps clarify a little.
- D

[premiershine9]

thank you for the over explaination.

No problem! Just trying to answer each question with as much detail as I can so there are no blurred or vague answers. I'm going to be fully honest with each of you.....this club fucking matters to me which is why I will have no problem to sit down and write you a lengthy response!
:thumbup:

[Kaan]

Chances are if for some reason next year you (Kaan) need to really lay on me or point me out....
- D

i've been quiet and nice since Great Hate. I swear i'm not a mean jerk.

[premiershine9]

Chances are if for some reason next year you (Kaan) need to really lay on me or point me out....
- D

i've been quiet and nice since Great Hate. I swear i'm not a mean jerk.

HAHAH i look forward to meeting you some day sir! 8)

In all seriousness, looking forward to communicating with you often to relay updates, ideas and keep you on my back- I want the help and advice from the alumni.

[JustinG]

In all seriousness, looking forward to communicating with you often to relay updates, ideas and keep you on my back- I want the help and advice from the alumni.

Quoted for posterity.....be careful what you wish for 8)

[Jewels]

In all seriousness, looking forward to communicating with you often to relay updates, ideas and keep you on my back- I want the help and advice from the alumni.

Quoted for posterity.....be careful what you wish for 8)

Also, don't trust Kaan, he's a terrorist. You know how those Turks can be. Love you Kannie Poo.

[premiershine9]

In all seriousness, looking forward to communicating with you often to relay updates, ideas and keep you on my back- I want the help and advice from the alumni.

Quoted for posterity.....be careful what you wish for 8)

:wink:

[Kaan]

HAHAH i look forward to meeting you some day sir! 8)

May 12th... you said its on your calendar. the TJ needs a shine

[premiershine9]

Stepping out now to go to class and be a nerd, be back on at 11 later on tonight and will answer questions until I cannot keep my eyes open.
CAN WEDNESDAY COME NOW??

[Cody]

Just curious, what will your involvement be out at the track? Have you/ are you considering buying a trackable vehicle?

[premiershine9]

Just curious, what will your involvement be out at the track? Have you/ are you considering buying a trackable vehicle?

I will be attending every track event we as a club are going to attend. I enjoy watching them and also will do anything necessary to have MM be there to also enjoy it.

As of now I am looking to move towards a more economical car and also towards one with the right number of pedals (ahem in Jake's words). I finance my vehicle (both the wrangler and now the GC) fully except for insurance payments so this decision is ultimately up to me and I would love to have a trackable vehicle but I can tell you its not going to be something older than 4 or 5 years old, most likely something new with a lease. Not looking to track and potentially wreck a car under lease. Also I need to be realistic with future finance as I am planning on moving out of my parents house asap after graduation and moving much more south. Seeing that my parents will back me very little financially on this choice I cannot afford to have a car that requires a shit ton of maintenance. Remember, I live out of state and pay much more for tuition than VA kids do, financially I have to do what I think is realistic for both myself and my family- trust me....I would love to take the Cherokee and swap it for an evo or some other track ready car.
Hope this answers your question....I think that just because the president does not have a "track" car doesn't mean he is not necessarily involved in the club or at these events.
- D

[SlimKlim]

Just curious, what will your involvement be out at the track? Have you/ are you considering buying a trackable vehicle?

I will be attending every track event we as a club are going to attend. I enjoy watching them and also will do anything necessary to have MM be there to also enjoy it.

As of now I am looking to move towards a more economical car and also towards one with the right number of pedals (ahem in Jake's words). I finance my vehicle (both the wrangler and now the GC) fully except for insurance payments so this decision is ultimately up to me and I would love to have a trackable vehicle but I can tell you its not going to be something older than 4 or 5 years old, most likely something new with a lease. Not looking to track and potentially wreck a car under lease. Also I need to be realistic with future finance as I am planning on moving out of my parents house asap after graduation and moving much more south. Seeing that my parents will back me very little financially on this choice I cannot afford to have a car that requires a shit ton of maintenance. Remember, I live out of state and pay much more for tuition than VA kids do, financially I have to do what I think is realistic for both myself and my family- trust me....I would love to take the Cherokee and swap it for an evo or some other track ready car.
Hope this answers your question....I think that just because the president does not have a "track" car doesn't mean he is not necessarily involved in the club or at these events.
- D

Advising you on personal finance and car choice is totally not the topic of this thread... however, there are a lot of cars out there in the sweet spot of not being too old or high mileage to get a good loan on, cheap enough to actually pay off in a decent amount of time, and reliable enough to not beat you up with repair costs (aka, NOT an evo ). Could be a good option to avoid throwing away money on a lease, because after 3 years instead of giving it back you still have the car to drive into the ground before you have to buy another one and start making payments again. Speaking as someone who thought making a newish car payment would be a piece of cake right after getting out of school and getting a big boy salary, it might be nice not to be forced to worry about it when you're just starting out. Just my $0.02, we should chat if you want sometime and i'll drum up a short list of considerations. Buying cars is my favorite topic of conversation, haha.

Its also worth noting that I don't believe owning a trackable car is a requirement of this position as long as you are passionate and engaged in the club. It doesn't matter if you're driving, working, or just hanging out at the track and helping out the other guys. Being there, even if its just to facilitate getting other members to the track, is what matters. If you were to keep the GC and use it to ferry a pile of current students to flag for the weekend, I certainly wouldn't fault you one bit.