Full Member	Novitiate	Apprentice	Journeyman	Expert	Master

The rank elevation process is now automatic.  Your activity on the website accumulates in the form of Member Points.  You earn Member Points for everything you do on the site; logging in for the day, reading articles, commenting on and rating items, uploading gallery images, participating in the forum discussions, polls, and blogging.  If you refer someone to the site, you can earn bonus points through their registration.  You will also earn a percentage of points for their activity too.  And as you begin to earn points, your growing point total will enable you to access more and more of the website.  At certain point intervals, your rank will increase automatically. 

This point system is the means of automatically calculating your educational progress through the Guild's material, and contributions to the Guild as you work toward earning your next rank.  Large blocks of points are available to earn by taking and passing the certification exams for the next rank above yours.  The exam for the next higher level will open up for you while you are still in the previous level.  Additional points can be earned through bonus opportunities.  Special points awards are available for participating in live venue events or giving violet wand demonstrations locally.  If you can not do live events, special points are also available for uploading video instructables and lessons.  In this way, progression through the ranks acts as a 'self-study' course, as easy as being active on the website and interacting with it, done at your own pace and whenever you have time and within your capabilities.  The system is also no longer dependent upon anyone grading exams or personally evaluating contributions, as it has been in the past.

The points value for earning the next higher rank falls within a range algorithm which also factors in frequency of participation.  In addition, points can be lost if you do not log in regularly.  So there is no absolute numeric value of points to earn to achieve a certain rank.   However, by the time a member has achieved the rank of Master, they have made meaningful, viable contributions to the Guild and its members, are familiar with the site content, have participated in the site's administration, and are likely to have performed scenes or educational demonstrations in a live venue.  They will have put in significant effort to earn their rank of Master, and as befitting their title, will have come to a broad and in-depth understanding of the art of the violet wand. 

Your rank and promotions will always be visible on your profile and with your avatar in the forums.  To view your activity points and begin working with them, start here.

The Violet Wand Resource Network is a group of partnered resources for violet wands.  There is the expertise and education of the International Violet Wand Guild, the knowledgebase and content of the community network, and manufacturers, repairpersons, collectors and users.  This partnership has existed to the benefit of all.

If you have read What the Hell Happened? , that article describes what occured to the overall Network and to the Guild, and to the Network's other partners due to the incomprehensible actions of one man in control as its Chairman of the Network.  The International Violet Wand Guild's site was locked down and held for sale, until it was rescued by a coalition of members on behalf of the organization.  We lost the ability to manage the website, officer control, and the ability to communicate with each other, which all led to a loss of our membership of several thousand individuals.

Unfortunately as well, the hosted Eclectic Electric storefront that was once maintained at the violetwands.net website was also locked down during all of 2007 and the first half of 2008, effectively shutting down Eclectic Electric's commercial enterprise from that major location.  While they still maintained an outdated 'homepage', their major commercial enterprise was partnered through the Network at violetwands.net.  The lockout for all of 2007 by the ex-chairman (and owner of the sites) disrupted Eclectic Electric's orders, cut them off from all web or email-based communication with their clients, and damaged their ordering system.  Effectively, this closed Eclectic Electric as a company, and Eclectic Electric legally dissolved a year later in August 2008.  After the websites and domains were purchased from Mr. Mcfeyden and the network reestablished, the company was re-organized as Eclectic Enterprises, LLC, d/b/a EE/Eclectic Electric in October 2008.

While these losses were due directly to the actions of our own Chairman, Daniel (murlach) Mcfeyden, of Elizabeth, New Jersey with last known place of residence in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the International Violet Wand Guild is making this official announcement that the actions of Mr. McFeyden do not and did not in any way represent the views, opinions, or politics, or wishes of the International Violet Wand Guild, and that the Guild was in no way responsible for any of his actions or results or losses thereof, either to our own members, users, or officers, or to our partners EE and other retailers who were affected.

The International Violet Wand Guild maintains its relationship with the-reorganized EE as part of the Violet Wand Resource Network and wishes them success in their new directions, just as we wish our own success for our new and future directions that were made necessary by the ex-Chairman's actions of the past.   Let us not continue to be victimized by the past, but venture into the future.