This is just something I was thinking about earlier: I'm sure that we have people on this subreddit who are medical professionals, scientists, etc. who can speak with some degree of authority on topics that most users may not be familiar with.

I'm thinking people like doctors, EMS professionals, chemists, etc. who have specialty knowledge that would be useful to the vaping community.

I remember a few weeks ago somebody posted the results of their lung function tests and said that they didn't know what it meant, but that their doctor said it was good. With certified flair, a medical professional who knows what it means could share that information with the community, and people would know that he actually is a physician/nurse/etc.

So, here's my suggestion: people with training or education in relevant subject areas can message the mods with proof of their education/training, such as a license or certification along with a dated notecard with the applicant's username. The mods can then apply a special flair to that user that shows that that user has been verified.

For example, Bob's a paramedic in the state of Ohio. He would take a picture of his license and a notecard saying "Bob [date]", and send it to the mods with the subject "Verify Paramedic." The mods would then apply the "verified - paramedic" flair to Bob.

I use medical professionals in my examples mostly because that's what I am, and that's what I have experience with, but there are many fields that could qualify. Electricians, Chemists, Machinists, etc.