We feel that those who are making the biggest contributions to the community should benefit from the most visibility.

Positioning of member profiles throughout the site is based on the number of current points accumulated. This is true whether someone is looking at the entire member list or a more specific categorized member list.

Determinations of who our featured members of the Month and Week is also determined by the number of points accumulated during those periods. Both Weekly and Monthly featured members will enjoy visibility on the front page of the website and in our Weekly Referral e-mail Newsletter that is distributed to Thousands of individuals.
Note: 1 member can only be the featured member of the month once every 6 months and the featured member of the week once every 3 months.

The point system isn't just designed to help you earn a better position on the site, it's also there to encourage you to do the things that are going to help you get the most value from your membership anyway. So everyone wins when you're earning points. You do, the community does, and so do we. Thank you for earning points!

Here's how it works. Points are earned when you complete certain activities. Points have expiration dates, so depending on the type of points you're earning they may expire in 30 days, 90 days or 1 year or never. We do this to emphasize the importance of being involved and earning points consistently. So you can't just work really hard for 1 month and sit back forever and enjoy the spoils. You must get and stay involved over time.

Below are the various activities that will earn points, their value and length of time before they expire. Please note that we may adjust these values over time, of course we'll always let you know and the rules will change for everyone.

Static Points (Profile Setup) No Expiration:

Add Picture (+5 points)
Add Logo (+5 points)
Bio/Description (+5 points)
Add Category (+1 point, max 5 categories)
Add Tags (+1 point, max 10 tags)

31 day expiration:

Logon (+1 point, max 1 point per day)
Post a blog comment (+1 point)

90 day expiration:

Register for a NetworkInAustin event (+5 points)
Indicate "I'm registered" for an event (+2 points, max 10 points per week)

1 year expiration:

Refer a member (+15 points)
Approved Blog post (+5 points)
Add Approved Event (+3 points)
Non-member friend registers for a NIA event (+5 points)
Add a member discount (+5 points, max 3 discounts)

All points void at termination. Account can be reactivated, but all points will be lost permanently.