- Pronouns
- he/him
- TNP Nation
- El_Fiji_Grande
0:06 Introduction
If you haven’t spent much time in The North Pacific, you won’t know much about our newest Deputy Speaker, Kaschovia, also known simply as Kasch. But while he only recently became active again, he actually has a long history in The North Pacific, having served as Minister of Communications and as Vice Delegate. As any modern Minister worth their salt knows, Kasch had an incredible impact on the Ministry of Comms, and his influence continues to be felt to this day. Indeed, shortly after the recording of this show, he promptly became appointed to once more lead Communications. While the show was intended to premiere directly following his appointment, it remains an interesting insight into who Kasch is.
0:42 Joining The North Pacific
As anyone who's interested in politics, Kasch arrived at NationStates after searching for games related to the subject. He was interested in seeing the affect of his leadership on a country, and so the game initially seemed interesting. He moved around a bit, creating a few puppets and getting the feel for the game. However, he soon became bored and left. This happened twice before he stumbled on the game again in April of 2016, when he created his present-day nation of Kaschovia. The nation spawned in The East Pacific, but soon after its founding, he decided to move to The North Pacific because of our tremendous population, with the hopes that the largest region in the game might be more active that regions he'd previously explored.
2:23 Joining the North Pacific Army
Kasch joined the North Pacific Army right off the bat. He had no experience with R/D, so he had to learn everything from scratch. He found it was a great opportunity to meet new people and become integrated with TNP. His most memorable experience from those early days was his Officer Test, and following that, he proudly rose to the rank of Lieutenant.
3:40 Minister of Gameside Affairs
While a number of people had been making progress in the NPA alongside him, Kasch recalls that the way he stood out was in his communications with Lord Ravenclaw. Lord Ravenclaw had just been elected delegate, and had asked for applications for Minister of Gameside Affairs. Kasch took the initiative by proposing many ideas for the future of the region. Having impressed Ravenclaw, he got the job, though he wasn't ever entirely sure what was expected of the role. When the role was later abolished, Home Affairs took up much of the mantle of its responsibility, and the modern Gameside Advocates have much the same role as they did then.
6:50 Minister of Communications
One thing that differentiates Kasch from other players is that NS has never been about reaching positions of power and executive responsibility. He's not driven by ambition so much as he is driven by service to the region and the pursuit of interesting activities that improve his skills. He joined the Ministry of Communications when they were looking for writers, and given that he enjoys writing, found it to be the right fit. He wrote tons of articles and as a result, took on more responsibility within the Ministry. Soon, he was appointed Minister of Communications.
In that role, Kasch strived to make Communications more active. He established a framework for articles that helped provide structure to our publications. This structure came in the form of segments such as the Regional Assembly Highlights, North Pacific Army Bulletin, the Spotlight, and the WA Digest. These segments were repeated in each issue of The Northern Lights (TNL), and it provided a foundation that helped newcomers to the ministry get involved quickly. It also provided consistency and standards that improved the quality of TNL and helped show outsiders what TNP was.
11:05 Thoughts on modern TNL and TNS
Kasch loves the new design of TNL - in fact, it's what he'd always been aiming for with his efforts back in the day. He simply didn't have the knowledge of graphic design tools to get it done, and that limited his imagination for what the newspaper could be. Having seen the tutorials El Fiji Grande has created, he's pleased to see the work that has been done to improve accessibility of those techniques. Moreover, he especially credits each of the authors who have participated in the modern issues of TNL for always being able to put out fresh content and new perspectives on NS topics.
13:55 Minister of Communications x2
Kasch is excited to say that he's been reappointed as Minister of Communications. While he acknowledges the challenges of the modern ministry, he remains confident that such problems can be overcome with creativity and determination. Kasch thinks the most difficult part of producing TNL at its current production cadence is finding authors for each issue. It's easier to find people to write articles if you can find something they're interested in, but that remains challenging.
21:18 Vice Delegate
Kasch is very proud of his term as Vice Delegate. He ran on a platform to increase representation for SC members, provide better opportunities for Keepers of the North, be consistent with all security checks, and provide reassurance and security to the Delegacy. Serving as VD allowed him to explore a new area of TNP he wouldn't otherwise have experienced, and as a result, he became much more confident in speaking with other members of TNP. His interest in the vice delegacy stemmed from wanting to protect TNP from security threats. He says that while these threats have been massively reduced in the last few years with the creation of WADP and the strengthening of the Security Council, security remains a concern. While he thinks it's nearly impossible to externally coup TNP, infiltration from within that severely damages our regional institutions could still be a risk.
27:15 Leaving NS
Kasch left NS a few years ago, and only recently returned. In short, he left because exams hit. Real life always has a way of interrupting the things you most enjoy. Leaving allowed him to focus his energy on what mattered most, and he did well. He's now in college, but has returned to NS because he has a lot more time now, and wants to enjoy it with others. While he hopes to remain active in NS following his term(s) as Minister of Communications, he does note that next year will be more difficult.
29:36 Future Plans
His future plans consist entirely of his term as Minister of Communications, following in Ghost's and El Fiji Grande's footsteps to keep quality consistent within the Ministry.
31:54 Founding NBS
About three years ago, Kasch founded NBS with the help of bootsie, Tomb, FrozenTopHat, Darcania, Yalkan, Scorch, and Aragnatim. These shows have since become time capsules of the past. NBS was once part of the Ministry of Communications, and it was the Minister's responsibility to come up with interesting topics. Kasch never participated in those old NBS shows, as he was far too intimidated to have his voice recorded. He says the role mainly consisted of finding people willing to speak in VC to take part in the show. That said, he's looking forward to being involved in the Ministry of Radio going forward, and he's since overcome his fear of speaking in shows.
36:00 Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs served as a wakeup call for Kasch. While he does not recall his term in a positive light, he says he learned a lot from the criticism he faced, and remains impressed with the magnitude of work that is required to establish meaningful connections abroad.
The timeline of events as described in this NBS show is a little off from what actually happened. Kasch first served as Minister of Gameside Affairs, then as Minister of Communications, then as Vice Delegate, then as Minister of Foreign Affairs, then as Minister of Communications a few more times, and now as Deputy Speaker and Minister of Communications once more. He's also been the deputy minister of nearly every ministry, may have once served as Lead Gameside Advocate, and has been involved in the NPA. So much has happened that he remains unsure of the actual sequence of events.
39:32 Favorite thing about TNP
Kasch's favorite thing about The North Pacific is the community. The way in which people interact through their shared love of the game and the need to escape IRL responsibilities always brings him enjoyment. He likes spending time speaking with others, and that's always been one of the reasons he's appreciated his terms in office.
40:29 TNP's strengths
Kasch sees The North Pacific as doing very well - so well in fact that it's very difficult to think of any substantial way how we could improve. Between the amazing RP scene, our incredible WA involvement, and the strength of our regional security institutions, he's very happy with the way things are.
41:15 The Northern Cup & Roleplay
In 2016 and 2017, Kasch ran The Northern Cup here in TNP. Being from the UK, he's always been very into football, and has fond memories organizing the event with MadJack and Highton. He credits the modern RP community as being incredibly successful, and believes we've come a long way in recent years, with so many different maps and worlds. To this day, he remains interested in roleplay, even having recently rewritten Kaschovia's history.
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