"We Are The North Pacific"
Hello everyone, whether you are a legislator, a soldier, a legal expert, a gamer or even some of these. My name is Bootsie, and it is my proud honor today to be officially running for Delegate of The North Pacific. I formally joined the forum in 2013, but it wasn't until later that I decided to get involved in the fun world of TNP politics. These past few terms have been phenomenal in not only building my experience up, but I truly got to see what it meant to be a productive member of the TNP community. So I hope this campaign is not just about me, but about us. A campaign on which I am a representative for our citizenry, not the other way around. I am not running for Delegate to strengthen my political power in NationStates, but rather, to bring diversity and culture to the people who make up the region I truly love.
My experience prior to TNP in NS was quite bland, to put it lightly. I believe I founded in the South Pacific, though I was only there for a few minutes before I was off adventuring. I moved to a region called Alterra and there, I got to experience what a bad leader looked like. The person who held the Delegacy in Alterra was a tyrant, and did not serve the region how I know a Delegate should. Being a resident of Alterra turned me off from NationStates, and I ceased to exist soon after. When I realized that NationStates really could have a lot of potential for me, I decided to refound my main nation, Guslantis. Upon refounding, I got a recruitment message from The North Pacific, which began my real journey in NationStates.
My first political duty was in the Speaker's Office, as a Deputy Speaker under Zyvetskistaahn. I was one of the deputies under him, and I really enjoyed welcoming new nations as I processed them through the citizenship process. Lord Ravenclaw approached me during that term, and I became his Deputy Minister of Culture and Entertainment but only for a short while. Real life caught up to me, and I left TNP for around six months before returning to the NationStates, and moreover, my new home region of TNP. Since the Speaker's Office brought me so much happiness and honestly, gave me something to do, I decided again to become a Deputy Speaker. This term was under Lord Nwahs, and I thought that the term with him as Speaker would be full of potential. Things went south and Nwahs vacated the office, leaving me as Acting Speaker. I was then elected Speaker of the Regional Assembly shortly after. Anyone who was around during that time period could tell you that term was an absolute disaster. Between keeping the Rolls updated, and me wanting to create the Acceptable Words List, I will admit that I was probably one of the worst Speakers to serve my region.
After that, I served one term as Minister of Communications and while I believe I made a lot of progress, I failed to release even one issue of The Northern Lights, making my entire term a waste. In January, I was determined to run for Delegate, but given that I was very low in endorsements at the time and seeing that Myroria and Lord Ravenclaw were preparing to run against each other for the Delegacy, I decided to prepare a campaign for another office I hadn’t previously served in: the Vice Delegate's Office.
During my first term as Vice Delegate, I got my feet wet in the new office, I can say with confidence that the January term as Vice Delegate was a success. The coup of Osiris happened during the end of that term and I was involved as one of the representatives for TNP in the coalition that was created to take back Osiris, mostly since Raven was ill during that time. I made sure to pay very close attention to what was said by the other representatives of the region, and made sure the appropriate parties of our government so that we would keep on par with what our allied regions were doing, and moreover, help liberate the region of Osiris. The experience was stressful, of course, but did prepare me for what could happen in my Delegacy.
During my second term as Vice Delegate, I continued what I did in my first term and worked on increasing the endorsements of our Delegate, the Security Council, and myself. Due to the increase of members from Imgur and the World Assembly Development Program; Lord Ravenclaw reached 1000 endorsements and we currently hold 44 spots of the top 50. That is an incredible thing to boast to our fellow regions, and the world, but with great power, comes great responsibility. With these high endorsement counts we have, we should be helping protect our region, building influence, and making the already almost impossible chance to coup The North Pacific even harder. We have the Security Council, but with average nations having high endorsements, my successor should focus on encouraging these nations to join the forums and become citizens. You don't have to be a member of the Security Council to be helpful in defending our region. Until a few weeks ago, I was serving as the second highest office in The North Pacific and wasn't a Security Councillor. Communication with the citizenry is key, as is communication with the Security Council. I may be leaving this office, but it has definitely prepared me for the bold step I'm taking today.
My first political duty was in the Speaker's Office, as a Deputy Speaker under Zyvetskistaahn. I was one of the deputies under him, and I really enjoyed welcoming new nations as I processed them through the citizenship process. Lord Ravenclaw approached me during that term, and I became his Deputy Minister of Culture and Entertainment but only for a short while. Real life caught up to me, and I left TNP for around six months before returning to the NationStates, and moreover, my new home region of TNP. Since the Speaker's Office brought me so much happiness and honestly, gave me something to do, I decided again to become a Deputy Speaker. This term was under Lord Nwahs, and I thought that the term with him as Speaker would be full of potential. Things went south and Nwahs vacated the office, leaving me as Acting Speaker. I was then elected Speaker of the Regional Assembly shortly after. Anyone who was around during that time period could tell you that term was an absolute disaster. Between keeping the Rolls updated, and me wanting to create the Acceptable Words List, I will admit that I was probably one of the worst Speakers to serve my region.
After that, I served one term as Minister of Communications and while I believe I made a lot of progress, I failed to release even one issue of The Northern Lights, making my entire term a waste. In January, I was determined to run for Delegate, but given that I was very low in endorsements at the time and seeing that Myroria and Lord Ravenclaw were preparing to run against each other for the Delegacy, I decided to prepare a campaign for another office I hadn’t previously served in: the Vice Delegate's Office.
During my first term as Vice Delegate, I got my feet wet in the new office, I can say with confidence that the January term as Vice Delegate was a success. The coup of Osiris happened during the end of that term and I was involved as one of the representatives for TNP in the coalition that was created to take back Osiris, mostly since Raven was ill during that time. I made sure to pay very close attention to what was said by the other representatives of the region, and made sure the appropriate parties of our government so that we would keep on par with what our allied regions were doing, and moreover, help liberate the region of Osiris. The experience was stressful, of course, but did prepare me for what could happen in my Delegacy.
During my second term as Vice Delegate, I continued what I did in my first term and worked on increasing the endorsements of our Delegate, the Security Council, and myself. Due to the increase of members from Imgur and the World Assembly Development Program; Lord Ravenclaw reached 1000 endorsements and we currently hold 44 spots of the top 50. That is an incredible thing to boast to our fellow regions, and the world, but with great power, comes great responsibility. With these high endorsement counts we have, we should be helping protect our region, building influence, and making the already almost impossible chance to coup The North Pacific even harder. We have the Security Council, but with average nations having high endorsements, my successor should focus on encouraging these nations to join the forums and become citizens. You don't have to be a member of the Security Council to be helpful in defending our region. Until a few weeks ago, I was serving as the second highest office in The North Pacific and wasn't a Security Councillor. Communication with the citizenry is key, as is communication with the Security Council. I may be leaving this office, but it has definitely prepared me for the bold step I'm taking today.
I want to be Delegate of The North Pacific because I believe that I can be a great and encouraging leader for the region that I've called home for all these years. I've seen the impact that the government of our region makes on our citizens, our residents, and the dignitaries that comes in contact with TNP. I want that impact to be something everyone can be proud of, and I want to personally lead the charge to make TNP a greater region than the one I'm serving today. People always speak of the great era of TNP and think of it in past tense. I want us to push forward knowing that the great era of TNP is not behind us, but in front of us! I want the region's government to be full of activity and enthusiasm, to be full of diversity, but also full of unity. There has never been a region I've visited in the entirety of NationStates that I feel so connected to, and I want this next term to show exactly what makes our region special. I've stated before that the election is not about me, but about the writers that bring life to our RolePlay, the soldiers that are being trained to defend our region, the legislators that are helping prevent loopholes in our law, and those who fit in many of these categories. I want to serve my region better than any Delegate has ever served before, and I know that if I follow these things outlined in my platform, I will attain that goal.
I am Praetor, current Minister of Foreign Affairs for The North Pacific. I am so excited to announce today that I am running for Vice Delegate of The North Pacific. I spawned in The North Pacific back in February and joined the forums shortly afterwards. In May, I ran in General Election for Delegate against Lord Ravenclaw where I gained an underwhelming 0 votes. Despite my lack of votes, I was pleased at the response to my campaign. In June, I applied for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Lord Ravenclaw placed a great deal of trust in appointing me to the position. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, I represent the region in every act I make on NationStates, and have been very careful to ensure TNP is represented properly. I have also been very active on the Regional Message Board, and have recruited nations onto the forum and into the Executive Staff.
I am currently ranked 8th in the world for World Assembly Endorsements and 22nd in the region for Influence. I am an active player and endotart regularly. Were I to be elected as Vice Delegate I would work to keeping the Delegate over 1000 endorsements as well as joining them. I'd like the Security Council to all work at increasing their endorsements counts to over 750. TNP already dominates the top 50 in the World. I would like to see the top 30 all be from TNP. I will ensure that if I am elected Vice Delegate that all citizenship applicants will be processed within three days.
I am currently ranked 8th in the world for World Assembly Endorsements and 22nd in the region for Influence. I am an active player and endotart regularly. Were I to be elected as Vice Delegate I would work to keeping the Delegate over 1000 endorsements as well as joining them. I'd like the Security Council to all work at increasing their endorsements counts to over 750. TNP already dominates the top 50 in the World. I would like to see the top 30 all be from TNP. I will ensure that if I am elected Vice Delegate that all citizenship applicants will be processed within three days.
The North Pacific has the most influence on proposals in the World Assembly, which means our vote can either make or break proposals. This kind of power cannot sit on one person, but rather, should be more democratic in nature. The votes casted by the Delegate, represent each WA nation that endorses them, so it only makes sense the Delegate should vote where the majority votes. Now, I can't guarantee there won't be exceptions to this rule, such as when it could have an adverse impact on our Foreign Affairs, but for the most part, my vote as Delegate will reflect the the vote on the offsite forum by WA nations in TNP or those in the NPA on an official mission.
I will retain most of the Ministries that were used during last term, there are two that I would like to merge together. These Ministries are the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Gameside Affairs, which both have been short of their potential this term, and share characteristics of a Ministry I've been brainstorming. From the joining of these two Ministries, the Ministry of Information is born, and will be a crucial element in communicating within the borders of The North Pacific. The Information Ministry will be charged with updating our World Factbook Entry and News Box with government updates, and update the Regional Assembly of actions that the government will take or is taking. This ensures government transparency, and keeps both offsite and onsite members involved in the government. This new Ministry will be closely working with other Ministries to release public updates each month through The Northern Light Public Release dispatch service. They are also charged with updating the FAQs and posting on the Regional Message Board to update the nations that way as well, if needed.
The Northern Lights was once a very successful newspaper for the region, and helped inform our embassies and entertained our citizens. This goal, however, has not been reached in months. That is why I'm changing the way we do The Northern Lights from now on. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take control of TNL, and be charged with publishing and distributing it every month. After all, our ambassadors are the ones charged with distributing it, so there should be a part of Foreign Affairs that takes care of TNL, Foreign Affairs has a large enough staff that they can. We released an update with the help of Eluvatar, Praetor and other FA staff, so it can be done. Each month a TNL is not released, an official update shall be posted in its place. Therefore, never again shall TNP receive a notice of inactivity, as major updates should be communicated every month of this term, at least.
On the topic of Foreign Affairs, while I've been impressed with the progress Minister Praetor has done this term, we obviously have some ways to go. I want to see ambassador reports from each region more frequently, just because it is hard to keep track of each of the regions we have embassies. These reports will include anything that the ambassador thinks that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Minister, or Delegate needs to know for the report period. I also want to get some more ambassador training set in place, mostly to cover the diplomatic protocol and make sure we aren't sending ambassadors just to fill our diplomatic roster.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will be charged with mentoring and recruiting, as it previously had been. I don't believe the one-on-one mentoring worked, but I'm definitely in favor of using the Help Desk in the Docks, the introduction threads, and the RMB as ways to encourage and help nations/members learn about The North Pacific. In the past, we used to have a whole group of people just greeting and assisting members out when they introduced themselves onto our forum, but as of late, this just has fallen through. Plembobria has done a great job getting members onto the forum, but it is all about making sure we can keep them on the forum. At the beginning of the term, at least at a technical standpoint, people would make one post and then not meet activity requirements and become a resident. As a candidate for Delegate, that shocks me! Our region is so awesome, and I want everyone feeling welcome from the moment they first arrive! Praetor has done a great job at using the Regional Message Board as a way to recruit nations to our forums, and I know that if the Ministry of Home Affairs uses all of the resources it can, it can become the active Ministry that it used to be.
Every winter, the NationStates community gets together and holds a World Fair. This one coming up is very special, as it is World Fair V. For this fifth edition of the World Fair, I wanted to bring the entire community to the North Pacific to show off our cool region! I'll definitely be working with the Minister of Culture to prepare a bid when the World Fair is officially announced, and we are going to try as hard as possible to make sure the NS community chooses us! In the event that we are not chosen to host, we are going to make our booth at NSWF awesome and make sure we show off our rich history, but also show we have a ton of excellent spammers (I'm looking at you who are stopping in from your count to one thousand. )
I will retain most of the Ministries that were used during last term, there are two that I would like to merge together. These Ministries are the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Gameside Affairs, which both have been short of their potential this term, and share characteristics of a Ministry I've been brainstorming. From the joining of these two Ministries, the Ministry of Information is born, and will be a crucial element in communicating within the borders of The North Pacific. The Information Ministry will be charged with updating our World Factbook Entry and News Box with government updates, and update the Regional Assembly of actions that the government will take or is taking. This ensures government transparency, and keeps both offsite and onsite members involved in the government. This new Ministry will be closely working with other Ministries to release public updates each month through The Northern Light Public Release dispatch service. They are also charged with updating the FAQs and posting on the Regional Message Board to update the nations that way as well, if needed.
The Northern Lights was once a very successful newspaper for the region, and helped inform our embassies and entertained our citizens. This goal, however, has not been reached in months. That is why I'm changing the way we do The Northern Lights from now on. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take control of TNL, and be charged with publishing and distributing it every month. After all, our ambassadors are the ones charged with distributing it, so there should be a part of Foreign Affairs that takes care of TNL, Foreign Affairs has a large enough staff that they can. We released an update with the help of Eluvatar, Praetor and other FA staff, so it can be done. Each month a TNL is not released, an official update shall be posted in its place. Therefore, never again shall TNP receive a notice of inactivity, as major updates should be communicated every month of this term, at least.
On the topic of Foreign Affairs, while I've been impressed with the progress Minister Praetor has done this term, we obviously have some ways to go. I want to see ambassador reports from each region more frequently, just because it is hard to keep track of each of the regions we have embassies. These reports will include anything that the ambassador thinks that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Minister, or Delegate needs to know for the report period. I also want to get some more ambassador training set in place, mostly to cover the diplomatic protocol and make sure we aren't sending ambassadors just to fill our diplomatic roster.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will be charged with mentoring and recruiting, as it previously had been. I don't believe the one-on-one mentoring worked, but I'm definitely in favor of using the Help Desk in the Docks, the introduction threads, and the RMB as ways to encourage and help nations/members learn about The North Pacific. In the past, we used to have a whole group of people just greeting and assisting members out when they introduced themselves onto our forum, but as of late, this just has fallen through. Plembobria has done a great job getting members onto the forum, but it is all about making sure we can keep them on the forum. At the beginning of the term, at least at a technical standpoint, people would make one post and then not meet activity requirements and become a resident. As a candidate for Delegate, that shocks me! Our region is so awesome, and I want everyone feeling welcome from the moment they first arrive! Praetor has done a great job at using the Regional Message Board as a way to recruit nations to our forums, and I know that if the Ministry of Home Affairs uses all of the resources it can, it can become the active Ministry that it used to be.
Every winter, the NationStates community gets together and holds a World Fair. This one coming up is very special, as it is World Fair V. For this fifth edition of the World Fair, I wanted to bring the entire community to the North Pacific to show off our cool region! I'll definitely be working with the Minister of Culture to prepare a bid when the World Fair is officially announced, and we are going to try as hard as possible to make sure the NS community chooses us! In the event that we are not chosen to host, we are going to make our booth at NSWF awesome and make sure we show off our rich history, but also show we have a ton of excellent spammers (I'm looking at you who are stopping in from your count to one thousand. )
In regards to appointing Ministers, I'm going to be a bit more organized with this. First, I will be opening all executive positions for applications, even if I plan to keep the person currently holding the position. The reasoning behind this is that you never know who will want to apply, especially when members of our past make their return to NS, and moreover, TNP, all the time! Even those members who haven't left, but are far removed from politics could make a return, and I am definitely open to inviting them back during my term. The applications will last exactly a week, and I will not be accepting any late applications. I will speak with my choices on the evening of the seventh day, and appoint them the following morning on the eighth day. The strictness of the application deadline is because of how short our terms are, and even if reelection is an option, the election usually halts all progress of the government. I want our government hitting the ground running, and I want us active and full of enthusiasm from now until January.
In conclusion, I hope that you'll consider voting for me as your choice for Delegate and Praetor for Vice Delegate. I'm serious about The North Pacific, my campaign, and getting everything done. If I am elected, I do want you to reach out to me and let me know all the cool ideas that you have for this term, and if it is possible, I am totally open to bring an idea to life. I have the experience of serving in many branches of the government, I've been placed in areas of great trust, and have been very serious about providing for the citizens and the region. As an RPer, though, I do know how to have some fun, so not only do I expect this to be an active term, but a fun term! I have been discussing this campaign with many people, and if I had to place my confidence for the next Vice Delegate in the hands of someone, I would pass my endorsement to Praetor. He is a strong choice and even though he is a newer player, I believe he can be trusted to run one of the hardest, if not the hardest position in the entire region. I am willing to answer any questions you may have about my campaign, and you can find me on Discord or comment below if you do have questions! Thank you so much for reading, I do know it was a long one, but I hope it helped prove why Bootsie is the right choice for when you vote for Delegate and Praetor for Vice Delegate. Thank you.
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