No, that's only the date when someone joined this current incarnation of the board, not when they joined OzFormers. My join date is 27th December 2007, but I joined OTCA in 1997. We didn't have an online forum then, but griffin did issue out membership cards. I think I was member #48 IIRC.

I don't see the harm in having a special rank for longer time members. It's not exactly elitist if those ranks don't even have any additional board privileges/entitlements (so it's nothing more than an ornamental title). Why can't we have a sort of superficial "reward" system for people who've stuck with the club for longer than some of the younger members have been alive? Surely reward point systems like frequent flyer points and loyalty cards are more 'elitist' because they give members privileges (e.g. discounts) over those who don't have them. I personally don't care if it happens or not. I don't need titles/ranks to tell me who the long time members are; if anything it'd be more relevant for newer members, but it wouldn't really affect long time members.