# Charter Member Membership Expiry Question **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 18, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471 "2004-12-18T02:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/1 "2004-12-18T02:54:42Z")
OK, say this coming April I am a bit of a dumb@$$ and I forget to renew my subscription so I go to inactive mode. When I pony back up the dough will I lose my Charter Member status with all the perks and whatnot? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/2 "2004-12-18T03:57:21Z")
Specifically, will Join Date and Posts be reset? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/3 "2004-12-18T04:01:56Z")
Will we receive advance notification of subscription renewal? šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/4 "2004-12-18T06:19:51Z")
Iā€™m afraid the answer to your question is ā€œWe dunno.ā€ Because we havenā€™t gotten there yet. But I would think that once you re-up your subscription, it just picks up where it left off, so to speak, and all continues as is. As for notification, weā€™re not sure about that, either, but I would guess that some sort of nag screen will pop up as you get closer to that expiration date. Weā€™ll see when we get there. your humble TubaDiva Administrator Or close to being there, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/5 "2004-12-18T14:33:05Z")
Do I get a prize for stumping the administration? (Something that isnt comparable to a boot in the arse I hope) No worries. I will jsut have to remember to renew at half price šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/6 "2004-12-19T06:24:47Z")
Stumping us ā€“ well, me, anyway ā€“ is not difficult. The line forms to the right, join the club, no pushing or shoving. šŸ™‚ your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/7 "2005-01-03T21:45:19Z")
I have another question about Charter Members that probably doesnā€™t deserve its own thread. When we switched to a pay board, I was under the impression that only members that paid within a certain timeframe (that month, I think) would be designated ā€œCharter Membersā€ and newcomers and late-payers would get some other title. Did this idea get scrapped or was it just hearsay/never an official stance? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/8 "2005-01-09T08:48:56Z")
Does anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/9 "2005-01-09T09:10:00Z")
> **[Different levels of membership](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=285643)** > > AFAIK, Charter Members are paid subscribers, and Guests are unpaid gerbil-pirates that get 30 days to sail the seven seas of the SDMB for free. At Members is where I get a little fuzzy. These seem to be people who registered before the board tax was... > **[Whats the difference between "charter member" and "member"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247351)** > > Iā€™ve seen ā€œmemberā€ and ā€œcharter memberā€ listed under username. Iā€™ve also seen other designations other than these or ā€œguestā€. What do they all mean? > **[Charter Member vs Member](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270116)** > > In this thread nonpolar says that he paid his Straight Dope subscription yesterday. He is shown as a Charter Member. I thought that only folks that sent their subscription pennies in before the initial deadline date were designated Charter Members,... > **[What's the difference between a Member and a Chartered Member?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266553)** > > As my free introductory one-month membership nears expiry, Iā€™ve just noticed that some people are ā€˜Membersā€™ rather than ā€˜Chartered Membersā€™ - which I thought was the opposite of ā€˜Guestā€™. Any difference between the two? > **[Member v. Charter Member](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253105)** > > Iā€™m a Charter Member. Most posters are, as of now. Some, however, are simply Members. Whatā€™s the difference? > **[How long will new subscribers become "charter members"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259003)** > > Out of curiosity: for how long will new subscribers become ā€œcharter membersā€? I could swear Iā€™ve seen folks with ā€œMemberā€ under their names. šŸ˜• Looks like it might have been a plan initially but it was never adhered to and there is now no distinction between the initial subscribers and the people who paid later except for the formerā€™s lower subscription rates. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-member-membership-expiry-question/280471/10 "2005-01-09T11:42:17Z")
My question is, what do we have to do to achieve the much-vaunted [Gold Dong Member](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=278043) status? Because Iā€™d pay, like, $29.95 for that. Seriously.