The MES wants to encourage new members to experience the organization and our games without requiring a paid year long commitment upfront.

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In the US, members who do not have a current or expired MES membership are eligible.  Current or former members of MES are not eligible for this offer.

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Trial memberships will be active for six months after being activated. For example, if you activate a free membership on September 1, 2019 it will expire March 1, 2020.

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Trial members may participate in activities that award prestige during the trial membership (but may not hold any elected or appointed full officer position). Prestige awarded during a trial membership can be awarded as normal (e.g. for charity drives, participation in certain events, etc) but it does not contribute to membership class totals until those members have purchased a full membership.

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A trial member may not:

• Vote in elections.
• Hold a MES office.
• Benefit from Prestige earned unless a Full Membership is purchased.
• Apply for Mid, High or Top Approval level characters or abilities.

Trial members may participate in activities that award prestige during the trial membership (but may not hold any elected or appointed full officer position). Prestige awarded during a trial membership can be awarded as normal (e.g. for charity drives, participation in certain events, etc) but it does not contribute to membership class totals until those members have purchased a full membership.

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To sign up for a trial membership, create a new account on the Member Portal, and choose “Begin a Trial Membership” from the “My Membership” menu.

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Yes, if at anytime during the Trial Membership period you decide to purchase a $20.00 year long membership to the Modern Enigma Society, you can choose “Renew” from the “My Membership” menu in the Member portal. You will automatically be set as a full member, and your expiration date will be extended by one year.

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If you live within the geographic boundaries of a domain or solitary chapter, then by default, you will belong to that domain or solitary chapter. You can join another group with the appropriate approvals – see the transfer policy in the Membership Handbook for details. If you do not live within the geographic boundaries of an existing group, but you live within easy travel distance of one, you can join that group as well. If you’re within 30 miles, no special approvals are required at all. If you live more than 30 miles away, run the idea past your regional staff just to make sure they are aware and that it’s the best solution for you. If you don’t live near a group at all, you can join the 4-Winds internet domain. Contact your regional coordinator to get that process started, and to make sure there isn’t a local group that you might be unaware of.

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It is of primary importance that you are set up to the correct domain in the Approvals DB. Your Domain isn’t automatically set and, unlike the CRD, no one else can change that information for you. Your Domain setting is what puts you and your approvals in the appropriate permission/viewing/approval chain. Please take a couple minutes and do the following:

1. Log onto the Approvals DB
2. Click on the “Profile” link, under the “General” section. (First section of the menu on the left side of the screen.)
3. Click on the “Member Of” dropdown menu, and select your home Domain. (Third line down, right side.)
4. Click the “Submit Values” button

To withdraw from MES prior to your membership expiring normally, you can send a written request to: Modern Enigma Society 9600 Percussion Way Vienna, VA 22182 or you can email the Board of Directors with your request. Alternately, you can send an email to your local coordinator(s), regional coordinator, national coordinator, and the Board of Directors. This email needs to include your full name, membership number, postal address, and date of birth (for security). Lastly, you can simply wait for your membership to expire normally. In this case, you might consider saving a copy of your prestige log and any characters, as you can pick up right where you left off should you decide to rejoin at a later date.

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There is no official grace period for expired members. On the day after your expiration date, you cease to have the right to continue as a member. Local officers are given some leeway in how this is enforced. If a member forgets to renew, is reminded, and honestly works to take care of the renewal in a reasonable period of time, then local officers are encouraged to give that member some leeway. If the local officers determine that the member is not making a solid effort to resolve any problems, or that simply too much time has passed, then the member should cease to enjoy the benefits of membership. This includes attendance at games, earning prestige points, participating in mailing lists, IRC, approvals, or even having a sanctioned PC. As soon as the member renews, they regain these benefits, keeping the same characters, member class, etc. just as if they had never expired. With this in mind, coordinators are encouraged to remind members to renew well in advance of their expiration date. This is why expiration dates are listed in each chapter report as well – to serve as a reminder so that members do not lose the benefits of membership simply due to forgetting.

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The Membership Handbook sets very strict limits on what activities a non-member is able to participate in. This also applied to non-members who used to be part of MES. Keep in mind also that while coordinators are encouraged to use non-member participation as a recruiting tool, this should not be used as a way for former members to avoid paying membership dues. Remember that among other limitations, non-members are not able to use any benefits of MC, even MC earned during their previous participation in the club, or to earn XP. This should rule out former members playing any of their old PCs until they renew.

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No, donations to MES are not tax deductible. Only donations to 501c(3) charitable organizations can be deducted from your taxes. MES is not, and never has been, registered as a 501c(3) organization. If you contribute to a charitable organization at a MES drive, such as when we raise funds for the Susan G Koman Foundation, the American Red Cross, your local food bank, or any other 501c(3) organization, those contributions may be tax deductible. Check with your tax advisor for details.

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To send payment by mail, first make sure that you have a MES membership number. If you don’t have one yet, please sign up for a free trial account through the member portal so that we have a membership to apply your payment to. And please make sure that the following information is sent along with your payment:

• First and last name
• MES membership number
• Email address used on your member portal account
• Telephone number
• Mailing address

To ensure that the information is legible, please consider printing or typing the information rather than sending hand-written forms. Payments that do not include this information will experience delays in handling, and we may be unable to process them at all. The payment, with this additional information, should then be mailed to: Modern Enigma Society 9600 Percussion Way Vienna, VA 22182 Please allow 2-4 weeks for mail delivery and processing before your renewal is reflected in the online member portal. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us for more information.

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If you are having an issue with your expiration dates not updating in the CRD, this is almost certainly not a CRD-specific issue. Please contact our Tech – Renewals department for assistance.

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If you had a membership number from the old Camarilla NPO (anything reflecting a year prior to 2002), then you will need to purchase a new membership and be assigned a new membership number for the post-WW club. If you had a membership number from the post-WW era, which is made up of two letters followed by 10 numeric digits (4-digit year, 2-digit month, and a 4-digit serial), but you can’t find it, then we may be able to find it for you. First, contact the coordinator for your old chapter or domain if you can, as they may have your number on file in old reports. If they’re not available, or don’t have the reports, the regional coordinator might be able to help. If the coordinator chain is unable to help, then send an email to helpdesk@moderenigmasociety.org with the following information:

• Your full name, including any variants you might have used at the time.
• Any email addresses you might have used at the time.
• Your mailing address at the time, or at least city and state.

With that information, we can try to locate your membership number from old records.

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Old NPO Membership numbers can’t be claimed in the membership portal. Instead, sign up for a new membership, which will give you a new member number.

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If it’s a technical question, fill out the Help Desk form under MES Tech in officers. If it’s a process or policy question, you can fill out the Contact Us form under About Us.  We will make sure to get back to you in a timely manner.