And in order to remain a member in good standing you must check "forum issues" and "help" before posting inane questions here in OT. Also using search to see if the question has been posted before is usually a good idea (it has, many times)
And the people above me missed one.
Elite member is a status granted upon the most valued members of this forum. It is not reached by a post count, it is granted personally on a case-by-case basis. It also requires that you sign an oath of secrecy, no one knows for sure what great and moghty powers are granted to the Elite, but rumors abound. Some say you become a moderator, some say you gain the power to erase oter members hard drives at will (not that any of our Elite would use that power recklessly), some even say that they are mysteriously able to fly (but those members are on crack).
Other people have custom names, such as our Den Mother and my fellow wombat WombatWoman if you see a custom name it was also granted personally and usually means the owner of such name fills some very special role here at anandtech.