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INDUCTION RULES

IVGHOF NOMINATION, VETTING and VOTING POLITY

1.)  Authorization:

By authorization of the Board of Directors of the International Video Game Hall of Fame (IVGHOF), an election will be held every year to nominate, vet and elect INDUCTEES into the IVGHOF from the ranks of past and present players, developers, manufacturers, organizations, games and industry leaders.

 A)  Vetting Committee:  

    1. Shall Consist of current IVGHOF Members and Volunteers, including past Inductees.
    2. The Vetting Committee shall consist up to 6 of current IVGHOF Members and Volunteers with up to 3 members to be appointed by the IVGHOF Chairman/ President and approved by the Board of Directors.
    3. Vetting Committee Members serve for a two-year term and the Committee Chairperson should be a past IVGHOF Inductee.
    4. The duty of the Vetting Committee shall be to suggest, research, review, nominate and verify all nominations to ensure they are eligible based on the Section 1.c. Eligibility for Induction Candidates of this document.
    5. The Vetting Committee Chairperson will report findings and consult with the IVGHOF Chairman/President and the Voting Committee Chairperson during the process.
    6. The Vetting Committee will agree to a final report delivered to the Voting Committee which consists of 3-8 Vetted nominations for each category, including all supporting research, documents, reasoning and justification for each nominee.
    7. The Vetting Committee will not lobby, promote or communicate preferential candidates from the delivered and vetted list to the Voting Committee.

B)  Voting Committee:

    1. The Voting Committee may include members of the Vetting Committee, select Industry Professionals and no more than 3 current IVGHOF Board of Directors and may also include past Directors and Inductees.
    2. The IVGHOF President shall approve the makeup of the Voting Committee members and appoint a new Voting Committee Chair each year.
    3. During the Voting Process, the IVGHOF Voting Committee Chair will report and consult with the IVGHOF President or duly appointed contact for any questions or concerns that may arise during deliberations.
    4. The Voting Committee will deliberate on the results the Vetting Committee provided as the outcome of their research and nomination process.

C)  Eligibility for Induction:

  1. To be eligible, Candidates must meet the following requirements:
      1. Adherence without examples of violation to the IVGHOF ETHICS POLICY as reviewed by the IVGHOF Vetting and Voting Committees.
      2. Shall include the candidate’s Body of Work within a specific decade or throughout the entire career including: contributions to the overall interactive entertainment industry, competitive playing accomplishments, general sportsmanship, integrity, and character.
      3. Do not appear on IVGHOF’s Ineligible
      4. Being an Inductee for one category does not eliminate nomination for another category, if determined deserving by the Vetting Committee.

 

  1. NOMINATION AND VETTING COMMITTEE SCREENING PROCESS:
    1. The duty of the Vetting Committee shall be to suggest, research, review and verify nominations to ensure they are eligible based on the Section 1c Eligibility for Induction Requirements, of this document and the nomination to the Vetting Committee’s research documents. These requirements shall be listed in a form, document, spreadsheet or similar documentation for committee members to apply research criteria, historical significance and capture related comments and observations.
    2. If insufficient information is supplied in the Nomination Submission-the Committee Chair or President may ask for additional information to be provided and included as ongoing justification for the nomination.
    3. If All requirements were met, the committee will verify the information supplied, add additional researched notes and accomplishments and assist with justifying each specific nomination.
    4. These forms will result in the Vetting Committee agreeing on the top 3-8 nomination candidates per category for that year, based on their industry significance, accomplishments, contributions, historical significance and overall innovation provided toward the industry of interactive entertainment.
    5. The final results from the committee are then given to the Vetting Committee Chair who will forward them to the President and the chair of the Voting Committee. The Vetting Committee Chair will prepare a ballot listing the nominees in alphabetical order by Induction Type and Category and pass along the list of nominees to the Voting Committee Chairperson and the IVGHOF President.

 

 3)  PUBLIC NOMINATION PROCESS:

    1. The IVGHOF will annually post an open invitation to the public to receive nominations to add to the potential list of inductee candidates.
    2. Once posted as “Open” the IVGHOF shall allow nominations for a period of 30 days:
      1. IVGHOF notification will go to the public through Social Media Outlets, IVGHOF email database, website and other sources as available;
      2. The duly authorized representatives of the IVGHOF shall prepare an online Nomination process which shall launch on June 1st and run through June 31st each year.
      3. All Nominations received shall be given to the Vetting Committee as soon as received but no later than July 7th.
      4. The accepted submittal process shall be the online form or a copy of the printed form emailed to the current IVGHOF email.
      5. Taking a picture of the completed form and emailing it is acceptable.
    3. All submissions must be made on the IVGHOF Nomination form and contact appropriate documentation. A Nomination form shall include the Body of Work of the Nominee and as many verifiable supporting evidence and links as can provided by the person submitting the form (justification).
    4. Forms without any justification included for the nomination will be discarded.
    5. The Vetting Committee shall screen and verify the information on the nomination forms.
    6. Successfully screened and verified Names/Companies, including initial research, shall be included into a potential list for that particular category for the Vetting Committee to deliberate.
    7. Once public nominations are closed, the Vetting Committee will do additional research and rank each entry as part of the normal Vetting process.

 

4)  ELECTION OF INDUCTEE:

    1. The IVGHOF Voting Committee shall receive the Screened and Verified Nomination list by October 1st from the Vetting Committee.
    2. The IVGHOF Voting Committee shall have a meetings (in-person or virtual) to discuss the nominees, justifications and research and independently vote for Inductees in every category.
    3. The IVGHOF Voting Committee will vote for no more than (8) candidates in any given category, with the expectation that the Vetting Committee provided 3-8 valid candidates on the vetted nomination list.
    4. All voting will be a stacked-rank voting system, where all Voting Committee members will rank all nominations provided in a 1 to “n” manner, where 1 is there top pick and “n” is the number of total vetting nominations within that category.
    5. Voting Committee members are expected to discuss and deliberate on each category and nomination during the process prior to voting.
    6. Any candidate receiving the highest average voting score of the ballots cast shall be elected to membership in the International Video Game Hall of Fame as a new inductee.
      1. If the results of the vote put multiple nominations numerically and statistically close to each other (less than 0.5 points between them), the Voting Committee may elect to discuss the top scoring nominees again and re-vote.
      2. In case of a tie, The IVGHOF Voting Committee will re-vote on the tie until such a time that a definitive winner can be declared.
    7. The IVGHOF Voting Committee will then pass the final results to the IVGHOF Board or Directors for final review.
    8. Once approved by the Board of Directors, the International Video Game Hall of Fame shall release the results for publication no later than July 31st of the following year.

 

  1. AMENDMENTS:
    1. The Board of Directors of the International Video Game Hall of Fame reserves the right to revoke, alter or amend these rules at any time.

IVGHOF ETHICS POLICY

This Ethics Policy identifies the basic principles of conduct that this organization believes to be fundamental. The International Video Game Hall of Fame (IVGHOF) also recognizes these guidelines are still limited and does not address every possible ethical situation that may be encountered.

All Membership Levels, International Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees, Committee Members, Volunteers and individual Board of Directors are expected to adhere to the guidelines set forth and:

Are expected to obey the applicable state and international laws;

    1. Are expected to abide by the rules and regulations pertaining to professionalism in conduct and behavior as defined in this document;
    2. Will conduct themselves respectfully to others in such a way as to reflect the highest standards of respect, professionalism, honesty and integrity;
    3. Shall not discriminate in any way;
    4. Shall protect the confidentiality of all sensitive information regarding the business affairs and discussions within the IVGHOF, nor violate any signed confidentially agreement;
    5. Shall conduct oneself in such a manner as not to bring discredit upon the IVGHOF organization, directly or indirectly;
    6. If disciplined or expelled from this organization shall have the right to a formal appeal to the entire Board of Directors;
    7. Shall not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by any Membership Level, International Video Game Hall of Fame Inductee, Volunteer, Committee Member Board of Director, event attendee or social media persona.
    8. In general, strive to be a positive influence within the interactive entertainment industry.