Conducting Prestige Reviews
(March 1, 2004)

Table of Contents

As the Camarilla has grown, it has used a number of different systems to reward its members for the volunteer work they have performed. This added complexity has made reviewing long-running prestige logs into a fairly involved process, but this guide is intended to provide a clear and easy to follow method for conducting these reviews.

This guide contains details and advice on the national review process itself, guidelines on how to handle members returning from a long absence, reconstructing logs that have been lost, and specifics for each prestige system that has been implemented in the Camarilla to date.

Most of the guidelines within this document are useful to apply at all levels, particularly since these guidelines will be applied when the prestige is eventually reviewed at a national level. Local coordinators should be familiar with these guidelines, and should use their best judgment when applying them to local reviews.

When doing reviews, keep in mind that the goal of the prestige system is not to allow people to play more powerful characters. That is just a side benefit. Rather, it is a way to recognize the contributions of the membership. If a member is being recognized for work that was not done, or is not recognized for work that was performed, then there is a problem to be remedied.

Remember also that the member being reviewed is a real person, not just a list of numbers and dates. It is very easy for a member to take modifications during a review as criticism. Try to be as diplomatic and friendly as possible. Show some compassion and the process will go much more smoothly.

Members are responsible for maintaining their own prestige log. While it is recommended for a member's direct coordinator to also keep a backup copy, and chapter, domain and other reports help to track this prestige, the ultimate responsibility for maintaining a prestige log still remains with the member.

If a member does not have their own log, we can and will attempt to reconstruct those awards that we have access to. Searching old chapter and domain reports is an excellent start, and if prestige was reported correctly, will turn up most or all of the member's prestige awards. Sometimes other archives can be searched, or perhaps an old coordinator may still have a previous copy of the log. If nothing else works, the member's coordinator chain and the Camarilla Council may approve a blanket prestige grant as a lump sum if the member's contributions are known, even if the specific awards cannot be found.

The log itself needs to note each individual prestige award along with the date earned (not the date awarded), category, amount, and a short (one line) description of what the member did to earn the prestige. It is also useful to note the coordinator that awarded the prestige, particularly for regional and national prestige.

All entries earned during a particular month should be grouped together to speed up the review process. Note that awards should be listed during the month earned, not when they were reported. If a member was a list moderator during April, but the prestige wasn't reported until July, it is still listed with the awards for April (and applies towards April's caps).

Remember that more detail is better than less. Instead of using "Chapter Meetings: 15 prestige," say "Chapter Meetings x3: 5/4, 5/11, 5/25." For regional and national awards, the awards are often summarized online for verification - including a URL for this summary is always appreciated, and speeds up your review process.

When submitted for a national review, it is required that the prestige log be submitted to national using the national prestige template. This is an Excel spreadsheet available from the ANC: Prestige's web site. If you do not have, or do not with to install Microsoft Excel, you can use OpenOffice, a free download that is able to open and manipulate Excel spreadsheets (among other things). If you cannot put your log into the national format yourself, please contact your regional staff for assistance.

Here is an example of a sample (partial) prestige log:

One item missing from many of the normal prestige charts is the ordeals. If they are not listed within a category on the charts for the appropriate time period (such as the current prestige system), just list them in their own category.

Many members find the prestige review process to be frustrating and adversarial. The reviewer should keep this in mind at all times and work to alleviate these concerns. Reviewers are concerned with keeping prestige awards consistent from member to member, domain to domain and region to region, not looking to find people to punish. The reviewer should always work with the member being reviewed to keep things as smooth and efficient as possible.

The first person to review a member's prestige log is always their direct coordinator, or a designated assistant. If this coordinator has the authority to award the Member Class being reviewed for, the process is then over. If the member is applying for a Member Class higher than what their direct coordinator is able to award, then the log is then passed to the next coordinator in the chain who then reviews it and either awards the appropriate Member Class (if able to do so), or passes it once again up the chain.

For Member Class 12 and higher (as well as in some cases where conflict of interest or something else may push the review to national), the final review if the log is done by the national prestige review team. Once a log has been reviewed by the national team, the log is finalized and archived. Once "locked" by the national team, those awards are no longer subject to review, and only awards that have not yet been reviewed by the national team need to be submitted for your next prestige review.

The review process itself is actually fairly simple:

Check individual awards

Each award should be compared to the guidelines that were in place at the time of the award. For example, a member has an award listed in their log granting them 55 general prestige for being a chapter coordinator during June of 1999. That time period used the third prestige system (1/1/1998 - 9/30/1999), and the guidelines listed for CC is 25-50 per month. The award of 55 general prestige is above this guideline, so it is adjusted down to 50 upon review.

To review the prestige efficiently, be sure that entries are organized by the date earned (not when they were reported). Each month's awards should be examined to ensure they are within the caps that were in place that month. For example, if a member has five awards listed for attending organizational meetings, for 5 general prestige each, all in February of 2001, this would require an adjustment. The guidelines in place at the time limit organizational meetings to 20 prestige per month, so the fifth meeting would be adjusted to be worth zero prestige.

During a national review, all national and regional awards should be verified, as it is (usually) assumed that local coordinators have already verified general prestige awards. Acceptable verifications for regional and national awards include a list of awards on a sanctioned web site, a report or email from the officer granting the award, or confirmation from whomever holds the appropriate office now. Remember that storytellers are not able to grant prestige - confirmations must always come from a coordinator with the authority to award the prestige in question.

Awards should also be compared to the position(s) the member held at the time to ensure that they are not earning multiple prestige awards for the same activity. If a member is receiving prestige in the Administration category for being a Chapter Coordinator, they should not also receive prestige in the Organizational Service category for attending chapter meetings - this is part of the job duties of a chapter coordinator.

Exceptional Service awards should also be verified, as they require regional or higher approval. Remember that any prestige in excess of the listed caps is considered to be in the Exceptional Service category. In cases where the member did do something outstanding to earn an Exceptional Service award, but proper approval was not obtained at the time, the member's regional coordinator should be consulted to see if the award may be approved during the review.

At times, the reviewer should also spot check chapter reports to ensure that the awards being included in the log were being reported. Allowance does need to be made for a chapter coordinator failing to report, or reporting inaccurately, but spot checks can sometimes show irregularities that are worth investigation.

Each alteration should be clearly noted so that the member is fully aware of the reasons for that alteration (over cap, outside of guidelines, doesn't match what was reported, etc). At no time should a member have their log adjusted, but not be given a reason for it.

If there are questions about a prestige log, the member should be consulted to settle them. This is particularly important when dealing with verifications, as the member often has information that will assist in verifying an award that otherwise may not be easy to find. In all cases, the reviewer should remain polite, constructive and professional in all dealings with the member.

With the review completed, this step is quite simple. Simply add up the resulting amounts (particularly easy if the log is in a spreadsheet) and calculate the appropriate member class on the chart below.

One possible complication is if the appropriate MC after the review is lower than the MC the member has previously been approved for. In these cases, barring intentional fraud or other violations of the rules, the member is allowed to maintain their current MC. They will, however, need to earn sufficient prestige before advancing any further.

For example, John Doe was approved for MC 8 by his domain coordinator. When applying for MC 9, it is found that after caps are applied and other adjustments are made, he only has 2550 prestige - enough for MC 7. He retains his MC 8, with all the benefits of that MC, but cannot apply again for MC 9 until he earns 850 more prestige (for a total of 3400, enough for MC 9).

The other possible roadblock to awarding the Member Class is in the rare case where a member has demonstrated a lack of respect, ethics and otherwise fails to uphold the values of the Camarilla. Member class is a symbol of dedication and service to the club and its values, and accepting a higher Member Class is agreeing to serve as an example of this service and dedication to the other members of the club.

If a coordinator performing a review feels that the member's past behavior does not warrant this level of reward, that coordinator may decline to award the Member Class even if sufficient prestige has been earned (subject to appeal, of course). If this is done, the coordinator must also provide reasons for the decision, suggest a course of action to correct the issues, and a time frame after which the member may be reconsidered. Decisions of this nature should be used as an opportunity for improvement, not as a punishment.

Once the review is complete and the member class has been awarded (and after any disagreements or appeals are settled), the member should be issued a card to document the results of the review. It should show the member's new Member Class, the date of the last prestige award listed in the review, as well as current prestige totals. It should also include the name and position of the reviewer (and elected coordinator they work for if the reviewer is an assistant) and the date the card itself was issued.

When the log is reviewed by national for the first time (usually at MC 12), the national review team will review all prestige awards, starting at the beginning, even though it has all been previously reviewed by local and regional officers, both to check for errors and to make sure that awards are consistent from region to region. For this reason, until your log is reviewed and approved by national, always maintain all prestige, even if it has already been reviewed at the chapter, domain or even regional levels.

The first prestige system used mostly Gen Grants rather than actual prestige points. Gen grants must verified as described below. Prestige from positions should be verified (copies of old reports will do), but other prestige can be accepted unless it is truly excessive. Note that prestige earned prior to a Gen Grant is replaced by the Gen Grant itself - you don't get to claim both the prestige points and the Gen Grant.

Although prestige was not divided into General, Regional, and National at this time, awards that are clearly and obviously regional or national in nature can be converted to regional or national prestige with the approval of the RC or NC as appropriate. Prestige from regional or national positions or contributions to the Requiem are good candidates for conversion, but only if they can be adequately verified. Without solid verification (reports, copies of that Requiem, etc), the prestige can still be included (within reason), but as general prestige.

There was a recommended cap of 100 prestige per month, not counting prestige from acting as an officer, ordeals or early renewal (all marked with * above). More than 100 prestige in a month would need to be approved by the RC at the time. Items that do not fall into these categories were allowed on a case by case basis - compare them to current guidelines for fairness. Generally, 5 prestige per hour is a good estimate.

Gen grants can be documented in two ways: either a signed document or email by someone able to grant the Gen Grant (you may have to track down and old RC or BoD member), or proof that the member held an office for over a year resulting in an automatic Gen Grant (usually in the form of old reports). It is not reliable to have a friend of the member verify it.

A DC was able to grant 12th through 10th Gen, an RC could grant up to 7th Gen, and the Board of Directors could grant any Gen. Lower Gens could be granted if and only if the officer's own Gen can be verified to be at least one better than that granted. Automatic Gen Grants are per the following table:

Once verified, a Gen Grant is then converted to a specific amount of prestige and applied to the new system. The amounts themselves are as follows:

In 1997, a new system for prestige was introduced which placed more emphasis on prestige than on Gen Grants. This is when Member Class (1 through 15) was introduced, as well as the national, regional and general prestige types. The guidelines for awarding prestige amounts remained the same.

It was the intention at the time that regional and national prestige would be given out in smaller amounts (1/2 and 1/4 respectively) than the same level of general work. This proved complicated and was misunderstood by many members, so the conversion process was done away with. At the end of this system, regional and national prestige awards were multiplied (x2 and x4 respectively) to be on the same level as general (assuming they were originally awarded at the lower rate). However, in those places that had not taken the initial reduction into account, these multipliers were sometimes still used, creating even larger inconsistencies.

To resolve this, apply the same standards and guidelines to regional and national prestige as you would to general for this period. If the values are low (had not been multiplied), raise them. If they are high, lower them. This is the best way to remain consistent and fair to all members.

For instance, Heather was an ARC in Region A, and Mark was an ARC in Region B. Heather was given 20 Regional Prestige per month under this system, while Mark was given 40 Regional Prestige each month. Under the conversion, Regional Prestige was doubled. Mark retroactively made his 80 per month for this period. This should be cut back to 40 Regional each month, which is the standard amount under this system. Heather was somehow not aware of the conversion, and left hers at 20. This should be raised to 40 Regional each month as per the conversion multiplier.

At the time, regional prestige could be awarded by a regional coordinator or member of the Board of Directors. National prestige could only be awarded by a member of the BOD. Typically, Regional positions, including Assistants, received Regional prestige. Board positions, including Assistants, received National prestige. Other Regional or National items should be carefully considered. Proof in the form of an email or letter is very helpful.

Use the table for prestige awards in Appendix 1 for specific award amounts.

This system used the same Member Class levels, but the amounts of prestige needed for the MC levels changed. This also included more formal limitations on prestige for different types of activities. Before, there was a loose limit of 100 prestige per month not counting offices, ordeals, or membership renewals, exceeded only with RC approval. In this third system, the limits could not be exceeded at all. On the other hand, within these limits a member can receive over 200 prestige each month.

Items normally worthy of general prestige could be made regional prestige by an RC or higher. Likewise, general or regional items could be made into National by a member of the Board of Directors.

This system was less of a major overhaul than just adding a few refinements. The following clarifications were made:

• Specialist Advisors and their assistants were added to the chart.
• Listmod awards were added.
• A category for 'Other Service' was added for activities that did not fit into another category. It could also be used for exceptional awards, but only with RC approval.
• Charity donations were limited to 20 prestige per month in addition to the overall cap of 50 per month for all charitable activities.
• Sanctioned Camarilla web sites needed to be sanctioned by the Camarilla Web Administrator.
• Storytelling Support was only for non-storytellers. These items were assumed to be part of normal ST duties. They may also have applied to STs out of their jurisdiction (for instance, a CST visiting another Domain).
• For Organizational Service, recruiting a new member was changed to 5 – 10 prestige, to encourage developing areas to increase their membership.

Notes:

(1) Administration and Publications (and some other types of service as well) work may be made Regional or National depending on the level of office or newsletter.

(2) Materials donated to the Camarilla or to a charity tend to favor those who have the resources to have such things in the first place. It has been a long standing tradition that “buying prestige” is unfair to other members. Therefore, these monthly limits should never be exceeded, even as the Other Service Category.

(3) Web sites are sanctioned by the Coordinator at the appropriate level (RC for a Regional Web Site, etc.). When updates are made the site designer should inform the Coordinator of what changes were made and the Coordinator will determine prestige for maintenance at the end of each month.

(4) Storytelling Support is generally for non-storytellers. It may also be used for Storytellers outside of their jurisdiction. But for instance a DST gets no prestige for playing an NPC at a chapter game in his own domain.

(5) Members are encouraged to help out by volunteering a conventions whenever possible. This supports the con and keeps the Camarilla on good terms with them. Members who far exceed these limits can be awarded more prestige in the Other Service category, or under different categories (such as Storytelling Support for playing an NPC).

(6) Officers get no prestige for meetings when they are there in an official capacity. It is considered part of their regular duties to attend these meetings. For example, at Domain Meetings, the DC, DST, ADCs, and CCs will get no prestige.

This was another revision of the prestige awards. Several amounts were fine-tuned, associate officers were added, events were split into three different types, and the 'Other Service' category was changed to 'Exceptional Service', and requires RC approval.

(1) These are the upper limits for administration positions. Generally, officers should receive about 10 prestige less than the cap for their completed usual duties. Months that officers go above and beyond their usual duties, they should be awarded more prestige, possibly up to the maximum. Rarely should this occur more than 3-4 times a year, and unheard of to occur nearly every month.

(2) Administration, governance and publications work (and some other types of service as well) may be made regional or national depending on the level of office, newsletter, or magazine.

(3) Materials donated to the Camarilla or to a charity tend to favor those who have the resources to have such things in the first place. It has been a long-standing tradition that "buying prestige" is unfair to other members. Therefore, these monthly limits should never be exceeded, even in the "Other Service" category.

(4) Web sites must be sanctioned by the supervising coordinator (e.g., RC for a regional web site). When the site designer makes updates, he or she should inform the coordinator of those changes. The coordinator will determine the prestige award for this maintenance at the end of each month.

(5) Non-recurring game events are divided into three categories: Camarilla sponsored conventions, Camarilla attended conventions, and special events. Camarilla sponsored conventions include ICC and regional events. Camarilla attended conventions include Dragon*Con, Gen Con, and Norwescon. Members are encouraged to volunteer at conventions whenever possible, as their support is good publicity for our organization. Special events include your yearly Goth Ball or Garou camp-out. Non-gaming social events and your regularly scheduled games do not count in this category. For prestige purposes, determine the event type before the event ever happens.

(6) All activities associated with an event go under the event category. This includes raising money for the event, donating office supplies, or going to a planning meeting. If a particular item is not listed (such as a meeting or running a fund raiser) use the guidelines from other categories, but place the item in the Events category.

(7) All members who attend chapter, domain, regional, or national meetings receive prestige; with the exception of officers required to be in attendance. These meetings are part of the required activity of the staff and do not result in earned prestige. Guest attendees who have been allowed to observe at a staff meeting are not eligible for prestige. Similarly, guests to chapter and domain meetings (such as members from one chapter attending another chapter's meetings) do not receive prestige. If a non-staff member is invited to attend a staff meeting for the benefit of the staff (such as a member taking minutes for the meeting, or a guest speaker), that invited member may earn prestige for Organizational Service. [Required Meetings]

(8) Both associate and assistant officers are appointed assistants to a primary officer. The main difference is that associate officers have an increased scope of duties and many have assistants of their own. Examples of associate officers include (but are not limited to) GSA's, Directors (Conventions, Memberships, etc), and city developers. Final determination over whether a position is associate or assistant shall be made by the primary officers on the BoD, National Council, or Regional Level that are employing the associate / assistant.

(9) The Regional Coordinator must approve all non-camarilla.white-wolf.com lists. The Regional Storyteller, will work in conjunction with the Regional Coordinator in determining which list will be approved as in character list. Non-camarilla.white-wolf.com lists are required to have as a minimum either an ARST or an ARC subscribed. Non- camarilla.white-wolf.com lists should be limited in base to chapter list, regional clan list, or be considered essential to the operation of the region.

The guidelines for prestige awards are as follows:

Maximum award per month in the Administration category for non- camarilla.white-wolf.com list is 5-10G/month per list to a max of 20/month for the sub category.

Non- camarilla.white-wolf.com lists will be required to file a report with the ARC of Communications.

While substantially the same, this prestige revision substantially increased caps in addition to fine-tuning specific awards. Many clarifications were also introduced with a more specific description of each award.

ADMINISTRATION (max of 80/month)

Only rarely should an officer be awarded the maximum allowable award for that position. Failure to perform duties such as reporting, responding to e-mail, etc. should result in a lower award. Awards for assistants should take into account the amount of work required for that position relative to other officers. Generally, however, an assistant should receive approximately half the prestige of their immediate supervisor, based on the workload they handle in that month.

CITY DEVELOPMENT (Max of 20/month)

COMMUNICATION and Web Design (Max of 50/month)

As with officers, list moderators and IRC operators should receive awards in keeping with the amount of work performed relative to other list moderators and IRC ops. Only the lists with the highest volume should receive the maximum allowable award, while most should receive about half the maximum award. Prestige awards for web design are very subjective and amounts should be decided with care. Important to note is the complexity of the site, both in number of pages, quantity of information, and technical or dynamic elements of the page. Only extensive, highly complex, dynamic websites should receive the maximum allowable award.

Most websites are local and result in awards of General prestige awarded by a DC or CC. The regional or national coordinators may request a website for regional or national consumption-any regional or national prestige awarded as a result must be granted by the RC or NC respectively.

COMMUNITY SERVICE (Max of 70/month)

Most charity drives are local and result in awards of General prestige awarded by a DC or CC. The regional or national coordinators may sponsor a regional or national drive-any regional or national prestige awarded as a result must be granted by the RC or NC respectively.

PUBLICATIONS & PR (Max of 50/month)

Most publications are local and result in awards of General prestige awarded by a domain or chapter coordinator. The regional or national coordinators may request a publication for regional or national distribution-any regional or national prestige awarded as a result must be granted by the RC or NC respectively. Web publications such as Domain/Chapter Newsletters for ease of distribution would be included in this award, not under Communications.

EVENT SERVICES

Events must be sponsored by an appropriate principle officer who then grants all prestige associated with that event. A domain or chapter coordinator sponsors local events, a regional coordinator sponsors regional events, and the national coordinator sponsors national or global events. An RC may award regional prestige, and the NC may award national prestige.

Camarilla-Sponsored Conventions (Max of 100/event):

These are multiple-day events operated entirely by the Camarilla. Must be sponsored as a convention by a coordinator and a storyteller with jurisdiction and either regional or national authority.

Camarilla-Attended Conventions (Max of 75/event):

These are multiple-day events operated by an organization other than the Camarilla, but with a Camarilla presence approved by the organizers of the convention. Must be recognized as a convention by a coordinator and a storyteller with jurisdiction and either regional or national authority.

Camarilla Special Events (Max of 50/event):

These are special events operated by the Camarilla that do not meet the requirements for a convention as previously detailed. Must be recognized and sanctioned as a special event by the regional coordinator and storyteller.

STORYTELLING SUPPORT (Max of 20/month)

Most storytelling assistance is local in nature and result in awards of General prestige awarded by a DC or CC. The regional or national storytellers may request assistance for regional or national plots or events-any regional or national prestige awarded as a result must be granted by the regional or national coordinator, respectively. All awards in this category should be awarded only in cooperation with the storyteller staff.

Storytellers operating in their own sphere of responsibility are not eligible for awards in this category. For example, storytellers within a particular domain are not eligible for additional awards for work done inside that domain as it is part of their storytelling duties. Assistance provided to other domains would still qualify.

ORGANIZATIONAL SERVICE (Max of 40/month)

All awards in this category are awarded by the domain or chapter as general prestige.

MISCELLANEOUS (Limited by Sub Category)

These awards are always general prestige and awarded by the domain or chapter coordinator under very specific circumstances.

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE (Max of 50/month)

A regional coordinator, or Camarilla Council member may award up to 50 prestige to an individual who has performed far beyond the guidelines listed elsewhere in the prestige system. The regional coordinator may award general or regional prestige. A member of the Camarilla Council may award general, regional, or national prestige.