Times they are a changing

Well, I think my guild has some "interesting" times ahead. I have recently posted on our guild forums asking for nominations for a new guild Council. We are likely to take 5 or 7 people on for the job which has, for the last year, been done by roughly 7 people over the time. We have taken on some new members who seem to fit in well and hold true to the beliefs and ideals for the guild, so I'm hopeful for the future.

Another development follows (possibly) from a conversation I had the other day with the GM of a small guild that seems to be on the edge of collapse. He suggested that 10 or so of his members might like to join us. All are over 30 and have some friends already in the guild. It sounds good - we might actually get enough people to do something in the 25 man instances for a change, but I have some worries.

How do we integrate 10 people who already know each other and have ways of doing something without either them feeling put out, or being clique-y, or wanting to change us? I am waiting for them to apply on our forums to see what our current members feel.

I don't normally do change very well, so dear reader, prepare for some venting, panic, tears and hopefully some joy to follow...