Good Grief! The process is not an open one and you know it; however, the award is credible and the holders are looked to as experts in their field of award. the absence of a "visible process" does not make it any less credible. Its the people who make it credible, not the process.

That seems a bit circumlocutory to me. ;-)

Unless your award resulted from crony-ism rather than displayed expertise in your target area, I'd expect you to agree with me. Actually I think I may even have referred to you elsewhere as a positive example or how a credible award should work. You yourself said that a former recipient can rise again if they contribute strongly and meet the standard. What standard? I think we actually may agree on this. ;-)