A determined mafioso walks towards the center of the city square to address the mass on a subject that has been giving him a headache lately.. He steps up on a soap box and tries to make himself heard above the rush hour racket..

Good day fine people, I come to you today... ahem..

Nearly drowned by the crowd, he spots a sleeping bum and sends two rounds through his forehead.. He then adjusts his tie while clearing his throat..

Ok, now that I have your attention I would like to get something off my chest.. Like many others in this world, I am in the position to sponsor young thugs and teach them the ropes in this Thing Of Ours.. I see it as a favor.. No, a privilege for these stray kids.. I certainly do NOT consider it a lucky chance for me to earn tribute!

Like my fellow wolf and good friend Mad-Frank said in his speech a few weeks back, it is not easy being a sponsor.. People make mistakes and we have rules to abide by.. Without these rules, our way of life would not be sustainable and hence we need hard consequences for breaking these rules.. Sometimes you will even have to order the death of your own associate, which is not fun but has to be done for the better of your family.. That's the life we chose.. But what is really mind bugging to me is how people have come to perceive the associate position nowadays..

Like I said, I think that people are lucky to have somebody sponsor them.. Without a sponsor they would run around the streets doing petty crimes in order to earn enough for the next meal.. Needless to say they would eventually become a walking target for some trigger happy mafioso! Why is it then that people are talking about member whoring and what not, like us sponsors should try harder if we want to get associates??? I could not care less if your bloodline has had great mafiosi.. They were your ancestors, not you! You are but a petty thief in a city of crime.. You should be honored to get the opportunity to join a family of organized business men and women who take care of each other!

Anyway, I am curious as to where you people stand on this issue.. Does it makes sense to you that a lowly civilian has the bargaining power (for lack of a better word) when it comes to joining a family? Should these bums not show respect and gratitude for being invited at all??

Don't get me wrong, I think that people have the choice of choosing a family that suits them best if they are lucky enough to be approached by several sponsors.. But I can't grasp the idea that it has become a privilege to have an associate and not the other way around... 

Before I leave, I must state that I now have three associates that I am very happy with and that I have never "tried harder" upon some nobody's request...

Arsenal stands down and gestures to his bodyguards to move away from the soapbox so that someone else may step up and share his/her point of view..

G steps up onto the soapbox that Arsenal just step off of

This is a problem that I have as well, I like you are very honoured to be given the role of recruiting associates for my crew. It is an honour that I take very seriously and I make sure that I find out as much information about a potential recruit before I decide on whether they are up to standard that I require for me to put my name to them as my sponsor.

We are fortunate that we have so many bloodline that keep returning to these shores, but it doesn't like you say give them the right to be disrespectful and accuse me of being a member whore. If I just ask them do they want to join a crew and send them an invite then fine I would say I was but I don't. I take my time telling them what is expected and explain to them what our crew is about.

Just because their bloodline has been around for years doesn't mean a thing because at the moment they are in a position where they should be looking up to their elders. If they are not interested then that is fine but they can always do it in a respectful way rather than being disrespectful. I hope that if my son were to follow in my footsteps he would be respectful in everything he does rather than disrespect someone who has the balls to approach him about finding him somewhere he can call home.

G steps off the soap box and waits for the next speaker

Will shrugged at the frustration being shown, and took time out of his schedule to approach and say a few words.

This is a topic that has been addressed so many times.  And yet, nothing has changed...

Well, that's not true.  A lot has changed.  In this world the sponsor/associate relationship was created, and with it all the growing pains that are typically associated with new concepts.  At this point in time, we have created a society of sponsors who will sponsor anything and anyone.  Member whoring, in fact, is at an all time high.  And I don't believe it's intentional.  I just think we're giving the nod for too many people to be sponsors. 

And I don't stand her above reproach.  It has recently come to my attention that a sponsor of mine is recruiting people, and offering them a home in my family - without even a word!  Without a word.

Will shook his head before continuing.

So, I take some responsibility, as other crewleaders should as well.  We need to consider our policy re: making people sponsors, train them appropriately, and monitor their progress.  That's what I can and will do. 

As for sponsors...well, sponsors should take some responsibility too.  You may have  your own reasons for becoming a sponsor, but far too many look at it as an opportunity to make extra cash.  They grab as many associates as they can, and when those die, they get more.  There is no desire, and no motivation to seek the best.  Sponsors need to be more selective, have some conversations, and hope that 10 other sponsors aren't offering invites without any conversation. 

This has given me an idea, which I will discuss later.  And let us not forget this conversation.  It's important that things change. 

Al grabs mafiashitman and throws him to curb.

Someone will be along soon enough to take care of you.

Al clears his throat.

The way I see it, sometimes you have to take what you can get. One thing I have noticed is that while you interview someone, someone else is offering them the world. I have been mid conversation when the potential recruit cools right off and suddenly joins someone else. Obviously trying to please Al became not so attractive real fast. As long as it is acceptable to "member whore" we will have this going on. I look forward to WillHayes' idea as something needs to change.

I agree with WillHayes that things must change.

This is the mafia, not a hoodlum outreach program.
It is the responsibility of the potential recruit to seek out the sponsor; it should not be the other way around. The heads of each family - CL, RHM, and LHM - should provide a list of recruiters in their respective families for the unsponsored hoodlum to approach. The unsponsored hood must take the next step of choosing a sponsor and making an acceptable presentation.

The potential sponsor should not have to explain to the potential recruit what is expected of him or the benefits of joining his family. That information should be withheld until the potential recruit becomes an associate of the family. It is the job of the potential recruit to sell himself to the potential sponsor.

The attitude of some of our unsponsored hoods must change. Unsponsored hoodlums should be held to a higher standard. They should be required to prove themselves worthy of sponsorship.
Disrespecting a potential sponsor by calling him a "member whore" is unacceptable. The unsponsored hood should show nothing but respect as he applies for membership to a family.

Once the recruiting process has changed and the unsponsored are required to put in more effort when seeking sponsorship, the attitudes of the unsponsored will change and the "member whoring" will stop.

Caius emerged lighting a smoke and taking a swig from his flask before responding to the concerns of his fellow mafioso.

Lets be frank here, you all have two questions. One of them being why is member whoring a big deal? Look around man! There are what 20 crews currently setup? How many of them have a full 50 working members under them? Profit is being lost because they are not full, that space cost money to setup, so why leave it empty? Why not fill it with a young gangster? If they don't work out, or decide to become a homeless bum, free target practice for the boss, an added tribute that you get to bring to him.

In the end, its all about one thing. The bottom dollar. Profit.

It seems to be coming down to a popularity contest when it comes to the member situation.

I will not overstep my speaking privilege, but I fail to see the reason in granting as many crews as there are out today. I won't harp about the old times, either - but I'll put it this way; A job (a sponsor) was a luxury few could achieve. A job guaranteed a stable income, and more importantly, their life.


That was taken for granted long ago. There are a plethora of crews - most of them handing out recruitment mails as if it was a political campaign. While I see the point of the crews in justifying this - (they need more numbers), they frankly brought this upon themselves by stretching their numbers so thin and spread out among their city. That, and only that, has resulted in the massive out pour of what is termed member whoring in the current society.


Short of a massive overhaul and radical change, I don't see that happening soon. Crewleaders and sponsors will continue to solicit the young ones in hopes that out of the 10 average rocks they find, one will be the diamond.

First of all, thank you all for sharing your opinions.. Interesting points of view.. Although, I would have to disagree with Caius.. I see your point, but I strongly believe sponsors should be selective when inviting people to become associates.. If families were to recruit any schmuck out there simply to fill their headquarters, what would be the pride in belonging to a family? Furthermore, there is a risk a bad associate will cause more harm than good.. Surely, you can train your gun on him after he messes up but what about the family reputation? Personally, I would lose respect for a crew that does too much "member whoring"...

And my concern is not whether member whoring is right or wrong.. I am selective and like to get to know people before I send the invite but how other sponsors do it is none of my business.. My concern lies in the attitude of a nobody towards a sponsor in the frickin' mafia..

It should not just be about the dollar.  Respect, omerta and integrity should be more important, for starters.

Have we really reached the stage where we'll let any old Tom, Dick or Harry into this thing of ours - just to earn a little more?  Some have, it seems.  There was a time when any friend of ours who took on an associate and thereby vouched for him completely, took ultimate responsibility for his or her actions.  I've seen members of our thing being rubbed out, irrespective of position, because of the actions of people that they became associated with.  Nowadays, the associate may be dealt with but that's usually the end of it.

Until there are some consequences to introducing the wrong associate to our business, nothing will change and whoring for dollars here and there will continue.