The idea is that we want to foster an environment where you're sitting down to play this with a group of friends, or an extended group of acquaintances like you'd have at the local game shop. We may be the bloodiest most hate filled enemies in game, but here, outside the game, we can sit back and have a drink together.
I'm not against giving out a small amount of credits, for a month or two of subscription play. There'd have to be some discussion with Tom about what he's comfortable with in regards to that though, being he pays for things and all.
We could do this a few ways though. Just starting with a simple vote for a player of the month each month, have categories and maybe vote for two or three, or have rolling categories that change each month (Jan: fun to play with, Feb: elaborate roleplayers, Mar: Uniquie, etc). I'm thinking either just a general player of the month competition (maybe restrict it to one award every six months?) or a rolling category.
Ideally, either way, you'll have a text field that you can use to pitch your case about why that person is amazing. And then each month we'll announce a winner, and probably share the "whys" that were submitted for them.