I am rather surprised that my opponents, who declared their candidacy for delegate a while ago, have not posted a campaign speech yet. Well, to get the ball rolling, here is mine:
My name is Flemingovia, and I am running for delegate.
What can I promise you?
Security
I think it is fair to say that even my harshest critics (and there are one or two) would laugh at the idea that I would go rogue. I think it is fair to say that my loyalty to TNP has never been seriously questioned. Vote for me, and one of the main worries that we always have when we hold delegate elections is not an issue. The region will be secure in my hands.
But let me be candid with you. There may be those in the NS world who have wrongly seen the past few months as pursuing a policy of appeasement, and would see my election as marking a more active and vibrant foreign policy. This would be a misreading of the current situation, but intelligence has never been the strong point of TNP's opponents. If a potential increase in bluster threatening words to the region worries you – vote for my opponents.
Oh, and history shows that when I need to, I can endotart like a demon. Here is an election promise you can hold me to. I WILL endotart every single day of my term, if humanly possible.
Personal activity.
This brings me to another matter. Since I started playing this game at the end of 2003, there have only been a few days when I have not logged in, usually several times a day. I admit it. I am still a NS addict. But, frankly, you need that in a feeder delegate. Without the security of an active delegate, feeders can become vulnerable after only a few days. Before Tresville became delegate, I predicted that his activity might be a problem. Over the holiday period, that proved to be the case. Tres has tried to justify his absences by saying that his predecessor also had periods of inactivity. All I can tell you is that if you elect me delegate, that trend stops, right now.
Conflicts of interest?
As I did last time I was delegate, on taking my oath of office I will step down from the admin team for the duration of my term. I remain resolute in my belief that holding the position of admin and delegate puts too much power in one person's hands. One of the main reasons I am standing in this election rather than any other is because we have an expanded admin team which means I can do this with a clear conscience.
As regards my activities in other regions, I keep a clear separation between the activities of Merited Flemingovia in the Meritocracy, Saint Flemingovia in TWP, Eastern Flemingovia in TEP and Flemingovia here in TNP. That will remain to be the case. As delegate, Flemingovia will pursue the interests of THIS region. Not any other.
Reality
I am not going to promise more than I can deliver. I cannot make TNP a utopia. No one player can do that. We are in a period of declining activity game-wide. We are unlikely to be immune to that trend. However, I will do my best to appoint active ministers, and keep them active. In this, I will lead by example.
Philosophy of government: Community not conflict.
There are those who believe that NS needs conflict for activity. I am not one of them. Although I do not shirk from conflict, I have seen too many of them, and understand that Conflict brings a spike in activity, but not sustained life. To use an analogy, the electric jolt of a defribulator will jolt a heart into activity. But it needs to keep being used, and the current needs to be ever increased to get an effect. The Pacific tried this with show trials, the Empire with threats and wars etc etc etc. In each case, things have flatlined once the jolt stops.
In fact, just as a defribulator leaves a heart weakened, I would argue that conflict leaves a region weakened in the long term. We have seen this graphically illustrated in TNP many times.
Conflict brings a spike in activity, but a region needs the steady heartbeat that is brought about
by community. I am old enough to remember when the OOC section of our forums was the best in Nationstates. So here are a few things I would do to encourage community...
1.build in incentives to post. I would spend time looking at ways to reward activity – perhaps with shiny rewards to be placed in the signature, or even something that could be coded into the forum.
2.Introduce “operation Shear-jashub”*, an operation to contact by e-mail former members of this community who have stopped posting here, and personally invite them back. There are about a thousand of them, so if only a small percentage came back, it would be a huge boost to the forum.
3.Work with the Com Rangers (who I am sure would be willing) to make our RMB one of the most active in Nationstates, including RMB games, quizzes, jokes of the day etc. Also, themed RMB days: Where (for example) every post must contain the name of a US state. This would be promoted in the WFE.
For too long TNP has been talked about in the NS world for all the wrong reasons. We have had a few months of relative stability now – let's build that into a term of activity.
Well, that is not it, but it will do for now. Please question away.
*google it for more information.
My name is Flemingovia, and I am running for delegate.
What can I promise you?
Security
I think it is fair to say that even my harshest critics (and there are one or two) would laugh at the idea that I would go rogue. I think it is fair to say that my loyalty to TNP has never been seriously questioned. Vote for me, and one of the main worries that we always have when we hold delegate elections is not an issue. The region will be secure in my hands.
But let me be candid with you. There may be those in the NS world who have wrongly seen the past few months as pursuing a policy of appeasement, and would see my election as marking a more active and vibrant foreign policy. This would be a misreading of the current situation, but intelligence has never been the strong point of TNP's opponents. If a potential increase in bluster threatening words to the region worries you – vote for my opponents.
Oh, and history shows that when I need to, I can endotart like a demon. Here is an election promise you can hold me to. I WILL endotart every single day of my term, if humanly possible.
Personal activity.
This brings me to another matter. Since I started playing this game at the end of 2003, there have only been a few days when I have not logged in, usually several times a day. I admit it. I am still a NS addict. But, frankly, you need that in a feeder delegate. Without the security of an active delegate, feeders can become vulnerable after only a few days. Before Tresville became delegate, I predicted that his activity might be a problem. Over the holiday period, that proved to be the case. Tres has tried to justify his absences by saying that his predecessor also had periods of inactivity. All I can tell you is that if you elect me delegate, that trend stops, right now.
Conflicts of interest?
As I did last time I was delegate, on taking my oath of office I will step down from the admin team for the duration of my term. I remain resolute in my belief that holding the position of admin and delegate puts too much power in one person's hands. One of the main reasons I am standing in this election rather than any other is because we have an expanded admin team which means I can do this with a clear conscience.
As regards my activities in other regions, I keep a clear separation between the activities of Merited Flemingovia in the Meritocracy, Saint Flemingovia in TWP, Eastern Flemingovia in TEP and Flemingovia here in TNP. That will remain to be the case. As delegate, Flemingovia will pursue the interests of THIS region. Not any other.
Reality
I am not going to promise more than I can deliver. I cannot make TNP a utopia. No one player can do that. We are in a period of declining activity game-wide. We are unlikely to be immune to that trend. However, I will do my best to appoint active ministers, and keep them active. In this, I will lead by example.
Philosophy of government: Community not conflict.
There are those who believe that NS needs conflict for activity. I am not one of them. Although I do not shirk from conflict, I have seen too many of them, and understand that Conflict brings a spike in activity, but not sustained life. To use an analogy, the electric jolt of a defribulator will jolt a heart into activity. But it needs to keep being used, and the current needs to be ever increased to get an effect. The Pacific tried this with show trials, the Empire with threats and wars etc etc etc. In each case, things have flatlined once the jolt stops.
In fact, just as a defribulator leaves a heart weakened, I would argue that conflict leaves a region weakened in the long term. We have seen this graphically illustrated in TNP many times.
Conflict brings a spike in activity, but a region needs the steady heartbeat that is brought about
by community. I am old enough to remember when the OOC section of our forums was the best in Nationstates. So here are a few things I would do to encourage community...
1.build in incentives to post. I would spend time looking at ways to reward activity – perhaps with shiny rewards to be placed in the signature, or even something that could be coded into the forum.
2.Introduce “operation Shear-jashub”*, an operation to contact by e-mail former members of this community who have stopped posting here, and personally invite them back. There are about a thousand of them, so if only a small percentage came back, it would be a huge boost to the forum.
3.Work with the Com Rangers (who I am sure would be willing) to make our RMB one of the most active in Nationstates, including RMB games, quizzes, jokes of the day etc. Also, themed RMB days: Where (for example) every post must contain the name of a US state. This would be promoted in the WFE.
For too long TNP has been talked about in the NS world for all the wrong reasons. We have had a few months of relative stability now – let's build that into a term of activity.
Well, that is not it, but it will do for now. Please question away.
*google it for more information.
