Referrals under my Avatar

Ok, I know what a referral is in the general sense of the word, but what does it signify when it's listed under an avatar's statistics? How does one get one and is it recognized as positive feedback by providers? Thanks for answering the basic questions, moderators, and for keeping us all honest.

The referral you are talking about is if you tell someone about ECCIE, they join up, and say that you were the one that referred them to ECCIE. Has nothing to do with VP referrals, sorry.

The Colonel.