1. Is business insurance a requirement to be a member?
While PDRN recommends everyone has insurance, we cannot mandate it. There will be a display box that can be “checked” on a technician’s page, for any tech who wishes to submit to consumers they have insurance.
2. Who is eligible to be on the board?
Any current member is eligible to be nominated for a position on the board. All nominations must also come from current members. Any current member can be nominated for an officer position. Nominations for Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer are limited to current members who have served as an officer or board member for a minimum of one year.
3. How do you elect board members?
Once all nominations are submitted, all current members are eligible to vote.
4. Where does the money that’s paid for certification go?
As a nonprofit organization all revenue goes back into marketing, print material, cost of website administration and maintenance, and building of name recognition in the industry. We have worked hard to provide our certification at a reasonable cost to the techs, and at the same time build a plan that can scale with growth.
5. Can one lose their certification? If so, how?
Hopefully we are stringent enough on the front end of membership enrollment to minimize any revocation of status. With our CSI in place, we can track those who are not speaking well for the membership as a whole and eliminate them from candidacy.
6. Do you resource “leads” and resources to the members?
On the PDRN website members have the ability to list their contact information. PDRN is not and will not ever be the clearing house.
7. Are the larger PDR companies embracing this?
Having a pre-approved base of technicians will certainly serve any size company. It is our intention to serve our membership by showcasing the benefits of resourcing work to PDRN members before searching the unknown tech population.
8. Does PDRN have a “tech finding” mechanism?
Once we build a membership of better choice, the benefits of member priority and reciprocity will become advantageous over the non-member.
9. What is the best way to contact PDRN if I need assistance or have a question?
We pride ourselves on being open and available to our industry members. Please contact us via email at info@pdrnation.org.
10. Does PDRN have multiple levels of certification?
PDRN does not have different levels. We feel a technician’s skill set will be evident via his tech page and CSI rankings.
11. I see Vale is not required. How does Vale certification fit into the PDRN equation?
While a Vale certification is not mandatory, it is accepted as entry into the certification and is a great asset to add to your tech profile page.A standing belief in this industry is any qualified tech can fix a dent once, and we agree. It is the day in and day out customer reviews which will slowly begin to form an image of a technician and his qualities.
12. Can I be a sponsor or advertiser in the newsletter or website?
PDR Nation has strict guidelines for who can be a sponsor. It must fall within our guidelines, and requires a unanimous board vote. At this time, we are reviewing requests from industry tool and software companies. No individual techs, PDR companies, or insurance companies can be sponsors.
13. What numbers do you think it will take to make PDRN successful?
The demands for structure in our industry have been met, for the most part, by non-experts in the actual skill of PDR. How many sanctioned technicians would it take? 300-1,000 are some estimates by most of the PDR experts we asked. To be certain, technicians should outweigh and outnumber any outside forces seeking to control parameters for our livelihood.
14. How will board members, sponsors, or significant players be kept from benefitting, or using the association to directly benefit their own personal agendas?
We have chosen a diverse group to lead our advisory board. Ultimately, these varying and competitive business models would single out and expose any corruption or misuses of position for personal gain. While we promise 100% transparency, a natural way to deliver that promise is using an advisory board and officer group that do not normally work together.
15. Who can see my CSI on my tech page?
All tech pages are for public review. There is an arbitration process available should you feel a review is unjust.
16. Does everyone have to participate in the CSI part?
Yes. It is a very important piece of the certification which keeps our integrity and ethics validated.
17. What purpose will certification serve and does our industry really need it?
We believe the industry is calling out for stability and action on behalf of the technicians. The best way for this to happen is for unity. The more techs and companies that come together, the stronger we will become. PDRN as a group has a chance to bring a unified and professional voice to the industry. In short, the number of techs we can bring together will determine our success.
18. Are insurers involved in your policy making?
No. There has been no influence of any insurance company at any point in the building of PDRN and were never involved in our policy making.
19. Who started PDRN?
PDRN is the brain child of Ryan Hampton. An email was sent out to technicians around the world inviting them to take part in a new group whose goal was unity. As the group expanded, more members were added and it began to take shape until it ended up where we are today.
