Business Plan Team Director: The Director of the Business Plan for MergeMaster should be able to develop a thorough and informative business plan that presents all of MergeMaster information including background, goals, relevant facts, production, and the functions of our product. The business plan must be clear and presented in a way that ensures customers and potential investors understand our mission, our product, and the competitive advantages of our company. The Director is responsible for overseeing the workload between every department and to ensure that all key information gathered from each department is represented in the business plan. David Satkowski, President, MergeMaster Company/Business Plan Team Director David is currently a senior at Pomperaug High School. He has been apart of many business classes at Pomperaug High School including Economics, Marketing, and Accounting. Not only has he been apart of these classes, but he excelled in all three and earned at least an A average in each class. With experience in these classes, he has gained a great understanding as to what is needed to create a successful business plan. David has also had a lot of experience in working in groups for writing tasks. One of these tasks includes his Junior year final project where he lead his team and created a 5 page report and presentation on discrimination in America. Along with his role on the writing project, David has been apart of many situations where leadership was needed. As a captain of both the football and basketball teams that both had winning records, David knows what is needed from a leader in order to have a successful team. David will bring forth his leadership skills, enthusiasm, and hard working demeanor in order to be apart of a successful business plan team for the MergeMaster.
Accounting Team Director: The Director of Accounting is in charge of dealing with the financials of the entire company. The Director takes on financial work from the beginning starting with startup costs, then balance sheets and the five year plan. The Accounting Team is involved in critical decisions at MergeMaster, including the most cost effective materials and prices with our Research and Development Team. The objective of The Director of Accounting is to make sure the entire company stays financially sound and is able to prosper/ make a profit. The Exhibition Booth Team Director: Director of the Exhibition Booth for MergeMaster, is in charge of creating an interactive and attractive booth at the EXPO. In addition to this they are in charge of creating a presentation that is engaging to people walking past our booth. This person must foster personal connections as we are a business to customer enterprise. The Director must work with other teams to collect important information about the product and pricing for booth giveaways Dylan Kasidas, Accounting and Exhibition Booth Team Director Dylan’s accounting experience allows him to lead a successful team at MergeMaster. He has taken many accounting courses while furthering his expertise in this field. These areas of expertise include partnership, proprietorship, and corporate. These classes have taught Dylan how to work his way through the ins and outs of the general ledger and the financial policies of the company. In his high school career he has dedicated himself to his work following strict guidelines and deadlines. Mr. Kasidas is used to completing work both before the deadline as well as creating high quality work. He also studies the rubric thoroughly, paying attention to all details--large or small--which helps him stay on top of the hard deadlines at MergeMaster. Through his work experience, Dylan has learned how to effectively communicate with people through customer service. Dylan’s ability to help people work through problems/questions allows him to create a friendly environment for visitors of our booth at EXPO. At the Middlebury Parks & Recreation office where he works, Dylan helps to decorate the office as the seasons change. This experience and creativity will help him to create an interactive and eye catching experience for students, guests, teachers and judges alike.
Director of Presentations: The Lead Presenter for the MergeMaster 2019 EXPO plays a critical role in the public perception of MergeMaster. It is their responsibility to learn every aspect of our business so they are prepared to answer all questions asked and effectively present our business to potential investors. The Lead Presenter is also in charge of brainstorming, writing, practicing and mastering a professional speech at the highest quality that will be presented to a panel of judges at the EXPO. This speech can also be known as the “big pitch” for MergeMaster and is possibly the most important part of the EXPO for our team. Nina Koobatian, Presentation Team Director Nina Koobatianhas been driven and thrived with a busy schedule since a young age. With great experience, Nina has worked behind the scenes of Five Points Art Gallery and has gained business experience while taking marketing as well as E-Commerce in her high school career. In addition, she has exceptional writing and presenting skills, receiving an “A” average in all the Honors and Advanced Placement English courses she has taken. Nina is a very seasoned presenter, earning outstanding scores for all past presentations in her humanities classes. As an All-State cross country and track runner, diver, ballerina, musician, and artist, time management was mastered early on; an essential quality in mastering a presentation. Being the President of the National Art Honor Society, Treasurer of the Math Honor Society, Chef Décoratrice of the French Honor Society, and Secretary of her local youth group, she works great with a team and has fantastic communication skills!
Director of Social Media: The Director of Social Media for MergeMaster is responsible for updating our social media accounts on a weekly basis with information, promotions, and current activities on the status of MergeMaster. This allows customers and potential investors to stay up to date on what is going on in our company. They allow investors and consumers to see a visual representation of our business and all of its capabilities. The Director should be posting on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook and Launchpad on a consistent basis. Ryan O’Keeffe, Social Media Team Director Ryan O’Keeffe is currently a student at Pomperaug High School who is enrolled in E-Commerce and has previous education in online presence experience. He is very outgoing and active on social media throughout his years in high school. In E-Commerce, Ryan prefers to work as part of a team because he appreciates what the group can bring to the table, such as other ideas or help to create the best product possible. He has previous work experience within businesses and advertising sales. During this time he worked with website design, construction, advertising, and made quotes for businesses.This makes him well qualified for his job as the Social Media team leader. He excels in his IT skills and provides tech savvy skills. At MergeMaster, Ryan will use his broad experiences to create a diverse and active social media presence.
Research and Development Director: The Director of Research and Development heads a small group who work to develop and test the MergeMaster product. This is possible through intense research over all forms of medium. In the beginning stages of the company, the Director of R&D works solely on the research aspect of the job description. Once enough information is learned, at that point he or she may go through with testing to create a working prototype. In order to do this, he or she needs to pay extremely close attention to detail as well as have a knack for good, creative ideas. Levi FitzPatrick, Research and Development Team Director Levi is currently enrolled in Pomperaug Regional High School as a junior and plans to attend college for a degree in mechanical engineering. He has experience in designing products for multiple companies and has participated in extensive research. During his time at VortexNRG, He designed and tested multiple VAWTs (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine) and used his troubleshooting skills to refine the turbines. He worked at P.E.G. Co designing both the experiment as well as a enzyme container with a semi-permeable membrane. At these companies he has showed his ability to collaborate with a team effectively. He has a very flexible outside of school schedule and leadership capabilities. He has experience with both C++ and C# (coding) but retains the eagerness to learn new technologies.
Director of Marketing: At MergeMaster, the Director of Marketing must be able to multitask and work under pressure. Responsibilities of the Marketing Director includes assigning and monitoring his or hers team's tasks for the business, providing the other directors with any necessary information, and addressing any issues that arise within the team/company. As Director, he or she must respond to the needs of the customers and to work to improve and create appealing aspects of the MergeMaster. This individual also coordinates plans from start to finish to ensure that they are effective and to adjust the plan to meet any financial restrictions. Communication is an important element of this position, and this is why collaboration with the web designer is critical. Bailey Quinn, Director of Marketing: Bailey Quinn has had past experience in writing as an honors and AP level student in English courses in the last few years. She varies her usage of tone and language in an effective manner, depending on her audience and the goal of the writing piece. She is also passionate about writing and enjoys a challenging concept, thus being up to the task of any tough and thorough assignment. In terms of interpretation and communication, Ms. Quinn has been in honors science classes in most recent years, where emphasis is put upon the understanding of data and how to interpret and relay trends to a group of people in order to apply the graphed information to other concepts and problems. Throughout her time in educational spheres, Ms. Quinn has had experience with a variety of computer systems and has developed her skill in communication methods, such as email, calling, and messaging via text or memo. She also has experience with shorthand notes, as lengthy note-taking across the years has led to the mastery of this skill down to an art. Among other educational pursuits, she has also been enrolled in an E-Commerce class, with the intent of further molding her communication, writing skills, and teamwork skills, particularly within a business context. Overall, Ms. Quinn is a passionate and determined worker who is capable of hard work and taking on challenges with vigor.
Director of Website Development: The website developer must design and construct web pages, emails, and digital marketing pieces.They should be able to design and execute email marketing campaigns. They must implement design requests and provide ongoing site maintenance and coordinate and update web content (product photos, text and graphics). They should have strong creative skills in layout and typography and proficiency building responsive web applications, as well as show leadership skills in a group.
Ryan Furr, Director of Website Development: Ryan is very profound in multiple aspects when it comes to website design. He is qualified on web design because he has the understanding of how multiple website design sites work and how to create them. To go along with this he has also taken photography giving him a very good eye for what belongs on a website for maximum appeal. Ryan is very open to taking constructive criticism to help improve his work. Ryan understands that deadlines need to be met and that things need to get done on time and he is willing to work extra time on making sure that the website is the best that it possibly can be and that it is top quality. Ryan took a mobile app design class allowing him to understand how to design them and operate them. To go along with this Ryan has been apart of the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for two full years going on to his third year, with the knowledge that he has gained he has to interpret data and to be proficients in identify areas for improvement.
Cross Functional Managers The cross-functional manager’s role is to work effectively with the members of each team. He/she is always able to step in where help is needed. They must have good organization skills, and make sure that everyone communicates amongst themselves. They should be open to change within the team’s projects and be able assist any team when needed. It is critical for them to be flexible and knowledgeable about each team.
Ella Storey, Cross Functional Manager Ella has many skills that make her perfect for the cross-functional manager position. She has been a member of the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences the past three years, and so has plenty of experience with Expo and the work that each team needs to put in in order to succeed. In the Academy, she’s been a team leader for all three years, and is used to effectively communicating with other leaders and members of the team. She’s currently taking E-Commerce Entrepreneurship with a consistent A+, which gives her the knowledge of how to run a successful business. She was the leader for her project Inktivation in the first semester of E-Commerce. This helped her to understand the difficulties in working with new people and how to work on the team’s relationships in order to improve the result.
Cross Functional Managers The cross-functional manager’s role is to work effectively with the members of each team. He/she is always able to step in where help is needed. They must have good organization skills, and make sure that everyone communicates amongst themselves. They should be open to change within the team’s projects and be able assist any team when needed. It is critical for them to be flexible and knowledgeable about each team. Maddi Markelon, Cross Functional Manager Maddi meets the standards of being an excellent cross-functional leader. For the last three years, Maddi has been involved in The Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and continues to have many roles. She has been involved in all aspects of the program, from the science experiments to the social media presences. During the last few years, she has been the group's presenter at the Expo. This current year, Maddi is a Co - Leader for the Academy program, guiding her peers to success. Because of her experience, Maddi became a cross functional manager in E-Commerce. She is very interested in learning about building businesses, but has to overcome challenges. Most of her time has been dedicated to the research and development team however, has the capability to multitask well. Maddi is a good leader, and is able to bring something new to the table for every team.