Robespierre
The MacMilitant
- Pronouns
- He/him
- TNP Nation
- Francois Isidore
- Discord
- themacmilitant
A Delegacy
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Robespierre, and today I am delighted to announce my candidacy for Delegate of The North Pacific.
To begin, I'd like to start off by providing you all with a summary of my experience in regional governance and share a bit about why I believe myself to be qualified to be our region's next young leader.
As I mentioned in my campaign for Speaker this past January, General Election cycles are a time of great excitement for our democracy, as new leaders step forward and present not only themselves but their ideas for the benefit and betterment of our community.
From my early days in this region as a Deputy Minister in the ministries of Home Affairs, Communications, and World Assembly Affairs under Ministers @Marcus Antonius, @Pallaith, and @TlomzKrano, respectively, to my ascension within the executive as Minister of Home Affairs under Delegate @El Fiji Grande and later as Minister of Defense under @mcmasterdonia; those of you who know me will already know what my journey has been on route to get to where I am today.
To those of you who are unfamiliar, I can say that it wasn’t always easy. From serving you all as Vice Delegate in early 2020, to changing course and learning about the Speaker’s Office under the tutelage of @St George during the eight months that I served as a Deputy Speaker, to finally reaching the rank of General in the North Pacific Army; I’ve had many successes and some failures along the way, and to say that this will be my greatest ambition yet would be an understatement. Even so, it’s one that I can’t help but feel called to, as I've watched in recent months and have had the chance to observe our government from a perspective that not many before me have been fortunate enough to see.
As I declare my election bid, I aim to prove why I deserve your support and advocate for how I can provide you with the highest level of service. Below, you’ll find detailed accounts of my plans and objectives for each area of government as we venture into this new term. Should you have any questions, please feel free to post them below and I'll respond to them to the best of my ability.
For now, though, I present you with a vision - my vision - for the future of this region. I hope that you'll enjoy it!
My Vision
Understandably, some of you may be wondering why I've decided to forego seeking a second term as Speaker of the Regional Assembly despite having a successful tenure in the Office as both a Deputy Speaker in the past and as the Speaker in the present. Well, to that, I say this:
The reason why I’m running is quite simple: I want to oversee an executive government that gets people inspired again. One that is full of energy, one that brings new, more innovative ideas to the table, and one that truly pushes The North Pacific forward into the future as opposed to merely sufficing for a four-month term.
Recently, I've felt that many of the things that were promised to us back in January never ended up coming to fruition for one reason or another and that we could reasonably do more as the next generation of TNP leaders to step up to the plate and go to bat for this region's future. For that reason, I intend to answer the call and carry the North Pacifican banner forward in the face of the oncoming challenges that we may very well be confronted by and make an honest effort at resolving some of the issues that have plagued us for many months by this point.
That is why I'm here and that is why I'm asking for your support this election season. If nothing else, I ask that you see your vote for me as an investment in my ideas for the future. I'll be sure to work tirelessly to make things better for all of us, as I believe that now is the time to step outside of our comfort zone and push the envelope forward with action.
General Administration
Executive Staff Management
In recent weeks, applications to join the Executive Staff have been processed with a turnaround time of between one to two days.
This is ideal, as I would personally prefer all applications to be processed within 48 hours of an interested citizen applying, with 72 hours being the maximum amount of time that I'd be accepting of.
With this in mind, I’d like to commend both @Westinor and @Sir Kasto for their efforts in this regard, as they both have been doing an excellent job of welcoming people into our ministries and have shown the type of urgency that should be shown when handling these applications.
In spite of that, however, I'm afraid that we've been seeing a decrease in the volume of applications being posted and this is a problem. Under my administration, both Ministers and Deputy Ministers will be authorized to enter staffers into the master sheet upon acceptance and Ministers will be regularly expected to facilitate activity within their designated channels on the TNP executive Discord server.
What my overarching goal for this area is for this area would be for the executive server to become a hotbed of activity in our government, which is currently not the case (since most things are discussed at the top in channels that few can see). Over the course of each section, I'll explain how there's plenty to do to make this possible. So stay tuned!
Gameside Advocacy
I've been pleased with the work that @Rocketdog has been doing since they were appointed as Lead Gameside Advocate and I'm glad to see advocates from varying backgrounds and interests being appointed to better round out the team as a whole. Names that come to mind include @Illusia, @Guilleana, and @Nessuno for GAs who can be relied upon to consistently interact with the RMB, and so I'd like to thank them for their work thus far, in addition to others.
In the future though, I'd like to see the AMA segments make a return to the RMB with appropriate spacing between them so as to no burnout and have them lose their lustre.
Naturally, the Gameside Advocates will assist me in moderating the regional message board and welcoming new nations to the region, but they'll also be responsible for promoting the activities of my government and for guaranteeing that our programs are afforded the maximum amount of exposure in the public eye.
I'll likely be asking most GAs to return to their roles but I'm always more than happy to see who else is on the horizon and is looking to contribute, so don't be afraid to reach out if interested!
Weekly Press Briefings
Next up: Let's talk transparency, shall we?
Transparency, to me anyway, is all about letting the citizenry know what exactly it is that their government is doing for them. As for how I've contributed to furthering transparency in the past, I direct you to my statements in the Speaker's Desk surrounding the "Statistics on Citizenship" recordkeeping sheet and the reports that I did for Communications when I was a Deputy Minister. But, since I can't very well do that in the executive (for obvious reasons), one way that we can disseminate information to the public in an organized fashion is through weekly press briefings.
For those wondering, I will not be employing a Press Secretary to do this on my behalf if I am elected. Rather, giving press briefings on a weekly basis is a responsibility that, in my view, is best assumed directly by the Office of the Delegate, as it's the Delegate's duty to inform the citizenry and residents of the executive's progress.
In fact, as far as I'm concerned, forward progress should be being made every week and enough should be happening within each ministry to warrant a weekly briefing. Communication between the executive and the citizenry should be occurring regularly, and information straight from the source about what's been done, what's being done, and what will be done is an integral piece of the puzzle when it comes to holding the executive branch accountable to its mandate and giving us a roadmap for how the term will play out week-by-week.
It is my hope that by providing these briefings, it'll be a nice change of pace from the standard monthly reports that Ministers will still be expected to put out and will make information easier to digest since it won't be as concentrated into one giant report at the midterm or end-of-term mark.
Updating of Various Dispatches
Lastly ... To some, this may seem like more of a simple housekeeping item than a campaign item, and you'd be right for thinking that. Nonetheless, maintaining our on-site resources and infrastructure is of the utmost importance, and if elected as Delegate I'll be sure to keep everything nice and tidy and, more importantly, up-to-date. Here's a list of our dispatches and their associated issues:
- Information for WA Voters (Hasn't been updated since January of this year)
- Mentoring Program (Contains broken BBCode and lists CTE nations as mentors)
- Northern Broadcast Service - Index of Broadcasts (Hasn't been updated since November of last year)
- Press Releases (Is currently broken and unreadable)
- Regional Assembly Digest (Hasn't been properly maintained since July 2018 according to the dispatch's index, needs to be archived)
- The Monthly Snapshot - Index of Issues (Has remained stagnant for over 200 days since the last release)
- The North Pacific Card Pull Events (Hasn't been updated since January of this year)
- The North Pacific Collection Spotlights (Contains broken BBCode, hasn't been updated since January of this year, possibly defunct)
- The North Pacific Epic Startup Program (Hasn't been updated since November of last year and is defunct)
- The North Pacific Executive Card Rewards (Contains inaccurate information, makes false promises, needs improvements)
- The North Pacific Great Card Giveaway (Has remained stagnant for over 100 days since the giveaway’s last request was officially fulfilled)
- The North Pacific Monthly Card Collection Competition (Has lay dormant since January of this year)
- The North Star - Index of Issues (Refers to TNS as if it’s an ongoing publication despite its discontinuation, need archived)
- The Roleplay Reel - Index of Issues (Refers to the RPR as if it’s an ongoing publication despite its now-defunct status, needs to be archived)
- Weekly Anthologies (Isn't outdated, but needs better promotion)
- World Assembly voting policy (Contains inaccurate information that is inconsistent with this Delegate Directive, differs from the outdated policy that is still pinned in the World Assembly Affairs subforum of the Delegate’s Government, needs to be updated)
By correcting these issues and fixing some of our less-than-well maintained dispatches, we can ensure that only accurate and relevant information is being referenced to anyone who may end up reading them.
Internal Ministries
Now, onto the meat of my platform!
In alphabetical order...
A Full Ministerial Audit
From the moment that I take my oath of office, the Ministry of Cards will be undergoing a full internal audit to determine what programs are still running, what difficulties have been incurred when trying to get these programs to function again in the past, and what new plans can be set into motion with the resources that we have available to us.
At the time of this writing, applications to join The North Pacific Cards Guild have not been processed since the 24th of March, with six applicants presently awaiting either acceptance or denial.
Perhaps even more troubling, this isn’t the first time that something like this has happened (see: 7 February until 22 February): Where applications processing was put on the backburner, no monthly pull event was scheduled for April 2021, and where several of our cards programs lay dormant and/or defunct.
While I understand RL time constraints and other obligations outside of NS, there is simply no excuse for these prolonged periods of delay and hesitancy to occur repeatedly. One of the biggest problems in the ministry at the moment is that very few people know what's running and what's stagnated (see here for confusion). Under my leadership, the Ministry of Cards will be treated with particular interest, strong attention to detail, and with a refusal to have it play second fiddle to any other cards programs emerging elsewhere on-site.
Building Up Infrastructure
As a way of pioneering new innovations in the cards aspect of NationStates, I propose that we begin planning for the implementation of the following two programs:
- Cards Outreach Program: A more unorthodox program, cards outreach in this sense deals with the loaning of legendaries to others for the purpose of hosting pull events with them and would involve us partnering with others to give them increased access to copies of low-owner cards that The Northern Light owns (e.g. S1 Rubyna and S1 Sionis Prioratus) in exchange for collateral.
Collateral would take the form of a card (or cards) with a similar market value (MV) to the one loaned, and while trustworthy partners such as TEAPOT or the TRR Cards Leauge may have their collateral waived, most applicants would need to formally apply for a card that we have copies of to be loaned to them and have their request be approved by the Minister.
What this means is that applicants would be subject to a background check upon applying for a card loan from TNL and their trustworthiness would be gauged at the discretion of the Minister and Senior Cards Leadership. Doing this would open many additional avenues for interregional diplomacy to take place and would allow us to assert ourselves further as a leader in the cards community.
- Deck Development Program: This program would revolve around the idea that those who choose to anchor and build their deck's value in The North Pacific ought to be rewarded more cards on a monthly basis. As for how this can be set up, I'd work with Senior Cards Leadership to evaluate the logistics of giving such collectors increased odds in cards-based lotteries, as well as finding new ways to incentivize deck building for members of the Cards Guild.
Updating of Card Rewards Tasks
Finally, if I am so lucky as to be elected as your next Delegate, time and effort will be spent during the first month of the term adjusting some of our cards rewards for tasks performed in the Executive Staff.
Currently, many of the tasks listed don't directly relate to what their corresponding ministry actually does. Host, win, or participate in a social deduction game for Culture? We haven't had any of those in the last four months. Write an article for the RolePlay Reel? That's a publication that's no longer being produced.
I'm sure that you see where I'm going with this, but sadly many of our rewardable tasks haven't been updated since the time that they were first being established. From TNS article writing in Comms, to "substantive contributions to IFV drafting" in WA Affairs, I'll be sure to update these tasks proactively as needed and will regularly remind the Minister of Cards to send rewards out so that the work of staffers is being properly incentivized.
Light the Way for the Northern Light!
It's been talked about before but hasn't seemed to stick. The return of a release schedule for new issues of The Northern Lights is an all-too-elusive wishlist item for Delegates past hasn't seen much success in recent terms. To correct this, I'll encourage the Minister of Communications to refocus on our premier publication and outsource many of its articles to foreign authors who can capture the interest of readers while most of our domestic writers work on Polaris.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that TNL can only be filled with articles written by those abroad, but I would like us to do some outreach in this regard and find players who can contribute something fresh, new, and exciting to each issue. I think that an issue about each region's development index has potential, but it needs to be filled will more organic content as opposed to the cookiecutter-like structure that is "Find all these things about this many regions and check off boxes on the list."
Elimination of Repeating Work
One thing that I continuously see the Ministry of Communications getting bogged down by is repeating work. In the not-so-distant past, staffers were given very little direction from ministry leadership when writing their assigned segments beyond the vague "Please have your drafts in by this date" guideline and the occasional "Hey, where is your article?" message in their DMs. If we want to commit to the timely release of articles, then we must eliminate this.
In order to do so, middleman writing needs to be cut out entirely. Why have a staffer write about the Delegate's midterm report when you can simply publish the report itself with the Delegate's original writing intact and all? When Ministers release their monthly reports, those reports should be used, and interested writers should be assigned to write for the Polaris publication (of which we've unfortunately only produced two articles for in the past four months despite there being a supposed emphasis placed on it, see: here and here).
Too often, writers are assigned to topics that they may or may not have any background knowledge about (e.g. a non-NPAer writing the NPA Bulletin segment or someone from WA Affairs writing about a Culture event). Such knowledge is crucial when filling in the blanks for readers, but our tendency to follow through with repeating work inevitably means that our articles lack these fills. The good news is, with the discontinuation of The North Star (TNS), we now have a lot more flexibility in terms of when things can be reported on. I think that this is a step in the right direction, but it's not without its faults at present.
Much like with TNL, ministry leadership needs to set hard deadlines on articles and work closely with writers to meet those deadlines. Under my leadership, the Ministry of Communications will start down the path of recovery and reaffirm its mission to provide readers with quality content that's engaging and interesting to read.
Communications Frenzy
Lastly, I've been toying around with the idea of Communications putting on a symposium-style event in collaboration with Culture that would centre around journalism in NationStates and how it's evolved over the years. Ideally, each region/newspaper/radio show invited would have something different to contribute to the event. Lectures would be given, insights would be gained, and we'd tackle questions such as "What work goes into ensuring the quality of releases?" and "What makes an issue fun to read/enjoyable?," as well as "How has the rise in Radio’s popularity has affected text-based publications?"
This is probably a long way off (think the third month or so into the term), but I did want to mention it here to gauge interest. This would be yet another way in which we could demonstrate ourselves to be interregional leaders in a new space and I think that it'd go along nicely with a refocused TNL.
Next up, stay tuned to hear about my plans for Culture!
A Delegate's Flag Event
What better way to kick off the new term than with a bit of gameside engagement? As Delegate, it would be imperative that I maintain a presence on both the forums and the RMB, proactively take part in welcoming new nations to both the region and the regional Discord server, and generally make myself as available as possible for whoever needs me and/or might want to speak with me.
Tentatively, the start date for this event would be on Saturday, 15 May 2021, and would last for a period of one week up until the 22nd of May (with a possible extension till Tuesday, 25 May 2021 for submissions if need be). During this time, residents and citizens alike would be asked to design a flag for the Delegate to fly with an opportunity for them to choose a corresponding pre-title to go along with their flag entry, should they choose to provide one.
From then on, nations would be asked to vote in a series of polls to decide which flag the Delegate will fly on their nation (I foresee voting lasting for a period of 24-48 hours after the week-long submission period wraps up, so think 24th/25th/26th of May for me having a new, community-approved flag if all goes according to plan).
Putting on an event like this early in the term would do well to stimulate interest in the Ministry of Culture's upcoming activities and would be a fun little reminder that our community members gameside have just as much a say in the direction that our region goes as us forum frequenters do.
Weekend Game Nights
Speaking of fun little reminders, the last term saw the creation of The North Pacific Gaming Union group on Steam!
Originally pitched to @Bobberino by me before it was brought to the Ministry of Culture's leadership for approval, joining our regional Steam group is a great way to connect with your fellow TNPers off-site and away from NS. Intended as a way of encouraging our members to interact with one another as a community rather than just as NS players, I envision such a group demanding very little upfront investment and possibly yielding very positive results in the way of scheduling multiplayer with increased ease, enabling gamers to stream more, and even help attract players from Steam to our community off-site (Discord and forums) over time.
To do this, we'll need to focus on building up some infrastructure for the group. Including, but not limited to: Writing up rules for the group (consistent with regular TNP moderation policies), pinning a welcoming post to its home page, deciding which games we can begin playing together as a group, etc.
On the social deduction front, games such as Secret Hitler, skribble.io, Mafia, Werewolves, and even shudders Among Us are all still viable options. As the Ministry that's commonly associated with being responsible for TNP's "general fun times," I'd like to see Culture host these kinds of game nights each weekend when our community's members are most likely to be available.
Spontaneous Activities
Not everything that Culture does can be planned, and so naturally some spontaneous activities will also come into play throughout the term. For this reason, I'm looking for a Minister who has the creative energy to use their imagination when coming up with new things for the ministry to do and I'm looking for staffers who are willing to engage with the community outside of planned events.
This can be anything from "Hey, does anyone want to watch a stream of x movie or game?" to "Let's listen to some music in VC!" Honestly, what's important is that we spend time together as a community and that we're able to see activity come about as a result of activities that are planned on the fly.
(Note: I'll have more details about the Ministry's planned festivities for celebration days and memorial days such as Manumission Day and Delegate's Day, as well as the Delegate Delerium competition, as we get closer to the actual dates of those days. At the moment, however, I'm happy to confirm that the Delegate Delirium competition will commence this year and weekly Theme Thursdays will continue.)
As you may have noticed, earlier in my campaign (specifically under the "General Administration" section) I said that the task of issuing weekly press briefings is a responsibility that's best assumed by the Office of the Delegate. That rings true here, especially in this part of my platform, but what it also does is free up the Ministry's time to devote to a wealth of other business.
List Optimization
Simply put, it is not enough to generate lists haphazardly for the sake of doing so. Indeed, there is a tangible benefit to having the Ministry of Home Affairs complete these lists and, if elected, I would instruct my Minister to continue on with this as a standard practice. However, they're not currently being leveraged to their full potential and allow me to explain why:
Often bloated, the benefit to completing lists lies in our ability to conduct targeted advertising for a wide variety of things that we may wish to promote. As a situational recruitment tool, lists work wonderfully, since previously completed lists can be used to build upon future lists (e.g. "Issues Answerers for Citizenship" followed by "Citizens for Executive Staff" and so on, which creates a compound effect that is a logical progression from the first list and one that makes sense when performed chronologically). In the status quo, this is not what's being done.
Take the Ministry's most recent report as an example: Two lists were completed during the month of March, according to Minister @Owenstacey. The first list, which was reportedly a "WA Voters for Ministry and Endotarting" list, has next to nothing to do with the second list for that month, which was "Issues Answerers for Cards Guild." Reiterating, it's all well and good for us to have updated telegram templates for when it comes time to send out our messages (and I'm supportive of that initiative!), but when lists are being sent out spontaneously and for no explicit reason, we run the risk of ceding any advantage that we may have had no matter how well-intentioned.
As a solution, there need be clear objectives associated with each list that's being sent out and a conscious effort to execute them cyclically must be committed. In order to best achieve this, I would separate the lists that Home Affairs typically generates into the following two categories:
- Backbone: These are lists that, when generated, are completed in a set progression and will be used in tandem with the WADP and its recruitment function. Promotional campaigns will be run for each ministry in a pre-determined order and lists will often work in collaboration with what the Vice Delegate is sending out (as it relates to WA matters).
- Conditional: These are lists that, when requested by an authorized authority (which will be anyone on the Executive Council), are generated for a specific purpose and to fulfil a certain need. (I.e. the Minister of Communications requesting a list that seeks to advertise a new issue of the Northern Lights or Polaris to potential readers).
Promotional Campaigns
Finally, Home Affairs will also be expected to run promotional campaigns outside of the two aforementioned categories. Whereas "situational" lists, as they'll be called, are meant to help promote specific happenings, these promotional campaigns would run as more general messages to residents. Rather that be a simple "Join the Ministry of Culture!" message or a "Write for the Ministry of Communications!" message like what was seen earlier this year back in February, it's important that we don't allow our status as a game-created region to breed complacency within us in regards to our recruiting efforts.
External Ministries
In alphabetical order...
Since joining the North Pacific Army in May of 2019, I’ve long been a strong advocate for a strong updating force that retains versatility in the many types of operations that we can embark on.
Emphasis on Training Operations
Although much less glamorous than large-scale joint operations or swift fash-bashes, training operations are an invaluable part of teaching new recruits how to participate in the Ministry of Defense's activities. This term, we'll work to strike a balance between fast-paced, high stakes missions for experienced members and slower-paced, low stakes operations for some of our newer members.
It's imperative that the NPA focuses on internal development within the organization. With the NPA Bulletin segment being moved from TNS to Polaris, there will still be ample opportunity to sell the successes of our beloved regional military to those who may wish to enlist and I look forward to doing just that.
Updating the World Factbook Project
This one's fairly self-explanatory, so I won't waste too much of your time hashing it out.
A dispatch needs to be created to preserve information about past embassies that have since closed and need archived, but closed embassies should no longer be prominently featured on the front page of entries. Going forward, ambassadors will be expected to keep their entries for the WF project updated with current information and will report to ministry leadership about the changes that our embassy regions are going through. This will replace ambassadorial reports for staffers who are assigned to regions and the WF project will become a living, breathing report in itself - just as it was intended as.
Establishing a Selection Procedure (IRC Representation)
Pertinent to Section 3, clause (a) of the Basic Structure of the Inter-Regional Chat (IRC), our region has the option of specifying its own internal procedure to decide how our representative will be selected.
If elected, I'd like to set a precedent for our IRC representation selection procedure and I'd like to vest that power in the Regional Assembly so as to hold the executive in check.
Currently, our representative is McMasterdonia and I don't foresee this changing. Regardless, it's important that establish an actual procedure for such a time when McM no longer wishes to serve as our representative there. So that will be something that I look to cement via the use of a Delegate Directive.
TL;DR My outlook for Radio is all about expanding the NBS' content web and helping the Ministry move away from standard interview shows. If you like variety in programming, want to see objectives from other sections of this campaign be supported through the medium of radio, and are willing to try something different, then these campaign items ought to get you excited! (Hint: Can you tell that I'm excited?)
I strongly believe in the Ministry of Radio's potential for greatness and I want to help it be successful if I'm so lucky as to be elected.
For that to happen, Radio's work needs to be prominently featured on both the WFE and in region-wide telegrams. When I say "prominently featured" that means updating the WFE when a new broadcast is released and making sure that residents are aware of our channel on YouTube. I'm more than willing to make myself available for monthly fireside chats with the Minister of Radio or another designated host, and I'd like to see NBS offer an array of different show types to better cater to the listening preferences of our members.
Here are some ideas:
Initiative Advertising
I'm a big fan of integrated government (ministries working to build on one another's efforts) and, as a means of better supporting my agenda for Home Affairs, I'd like for Radio to produce a series of short, 2-to-3 minute advertisement videos for various regional initiatives.
These videos should be expository and should cast all of what our region has to offer in a positive light. Off the top of my head, some advertisements that could easily be produced include a "Become a Keeper of the North!" video, a "Join the Executive Staff!" video, and a "Join our Steam group!" video.
As a loose blueprint for this, check out what the channel has already done to advertise joining the North Pacific Army!
New(s) Shows & New Series
In an effort to diversify the Ministry of Radio's well of content, here are some ideas for shows that I'd like to see hosted that don't follow the traditional interview format:
- Trader Spotlights: Inspired in part by the RP Spotlight segments, trader spotlights would be shows that feature a semi-consistent host with a varying cast of different collectors and cards players from around the NationStates world. Traders would be invited onto NBS programming to take us through their collections, share stories about their time in the cards community, discuss how they obtained certain cards and what the method to their madness is, as well as give advice to new traders and those interested in becoming involved with cards.
- Card Farming Tutorials: Yes, yes. I very well could have put this under the Cards portion of my platform, but I would be remiss if I didn't include it here instead. When I mentioned the potential for cards-centric content on NBS back in early March, one thing that I wanted to see produced was a series of tutorials aimed at card farmers to better assist them in setting up scripts, organizing their puppets, and deciding what amount of puppets is right for them when looking to farm.
This could be a great way of educating potential farmers and encouraging them to stay with us, which would undoubtedly serve to benefit the Cards Guild, the Ministry of Cards, and our cards-specific publication(s). (Monthly Snapshot, anyone?)
- Debate Shows: Often considered to be somewhat of a lost art in today's discussions, debate can be a great outlet for citizens who want to express themselves in a more authentic and composed manner. What's on your mind? A new legislative motion in the RA? The NPA's latest triumph on the battlefield? The Executive Council's chosen approach to x situation? Debate shows, putting one participant against another for a civilized exchange, can be a great way of empowering our members and giving them a platform to share their thoughts.
- RP Read-Alongs: An idea that was suggested by @Yamantau Em in late March, RP read-along shows would be an excellent way of allowing the recurring RP Spotlight segment to branch out from the standard interview format. Doing so would also leverage already-existing content (the RP posts themselves) for the listening pleasure of NBS audiences and provide gameplayers and others who don't typically pay much to the roleplay section of our forum with an opportunity to truly appreciate the time and effort that some of our community’s members have put into honing their craft.
The way I see it: Our region’s roleplaying community plays host to many talented writers, worldbuilders, and storytellers who deserve to have their works read aloud and enjoyed. It would also be a great way for aspiring roleplayers (such as myself) to get a grasp on the lore and history of Eras before making a commitment to join. Under my leadership, I’ll ensure that roleplayers from both the Eras and Strangereal settings are represented properly and supported by our executive government. I want to be a Delegate that's there for everyone, regardless of what part of the community they choose to engage with.
This is just another way that the Ministry of Radio can achieve that, so I'm more than happy to explore the possibilities with those interested in scheduling a show.
The "Talkin' to a' WALL" Initiative
Get it?
Yeah, well... mild humour aside, this is an initiative that would seek to address our allies in WALL and get us communicating with them on a more frequent and fluid basis.Each week, staffers would be asked to nominate one General Assembly resolution from out of a catalogue of over 550 passed resolutions for the purposes of discussing it, identifying angles for improvement, weighing its merits, and ultimately working to better the quality of writing overall within the World Assembly's more senior chamber. Doing so would come with the added bonus of exposing new staffers to the insights of senior, more seasoned personalities within WALL and would help give inexperienced authors a formal framework for learning about past legislation and brainstorming possible repeals (should it be found that repeals are necessary).
Some Tweaks & Fine Tuning
On the other side of the coin, what the Ministry today needs is some fine-tuning to make sure that things are being handled with care and consideration.
What that means is revising the Accelerator Program in such a way that feedback on an idea can be garnered from a wider base of players (such as from within WALL) and changing the current WA voting policy to allow for all citizens to have a say in how the Delegate votes on proposals.
One problem that I've been able to identify with the Ministry's Mentorship program is that we're not doing enough to help new authors get their works passed.
If an aspiring SC author wishes to write an RP-centric C&C, then pair them with someone who's written an RP-centric C&C before. If an aspiring GA author wishes to write a resolution that deals with the furtherment of democracy or advancement of civil rights, have them be paired with someone who's knowledgeable on the subject for one-on-one support.
Basically, what I'm saying is: Domestic authorship needs to be supported in an optimal way. Senior WA Consultants should be more than willing to act as the first line of mentors when one is needed.
Timely Voting
... and finally, on the topic of stacking and stomping during votes, here you can see my voting record and the promptness with which I cast my vote:
Miscellaneous
... and there you have it: My plans for the future! If you've made it this far, then I appreciate your time and hope that you'll consider me for Delegate once voting opens. I know that many of you weren't expecting this from me, but I hope that you've been pleasantly surprised by what I believe to be a comprehensive vision that features many specific, common-sense plans for improvement.
Since this is my first-ever time running for Delegate, I've gone ahead and taken the liberty of answering some questions that I know are frequently asked whenever someone runs for such high public office. To view them, click on the spoiler below to where you'll find some of my answers to common questions. But, if you have a more specific question that you'd like to ask, please don't hesitate to post below.
And remember: Now is the time for us to rise to the occasion.
Let's get started!
What does the "Robespierre for Rejuvenation" slogan mean to you and how is it significant?
That's an excellent question, and it's one that I spent a considerable amount of time exploring prior to launching my campaign.
If I had to sum up my platform in a few words or even a sentence, then I'd say something along the lines of: "New blood, new generation, the old way of doing things over," and I think that rejuvenation really speaks to that as far as a fitting theme for my candidacy goes.
If you look up the definition of rejuvenate, it'll say: "give new energy or vigour to; revitalize," with a secondary definition of [to] “restore a youthful appearance to.” Because what do I want to do? I want to give new energy to the executive branch, and my campaign is all about futureproofing our administration via the "new faces in new places" mantra. I think that we could always do well to adapt, be proactive, and be willing to step outside our comfort zone when and if there's an advantage in doing so.
Sometimes a different perspective or a different take on things is not only needed but is desirable. I definitely think that now is one of those times and so I chose rejuvenation because I feel like that'll what'll suit our region's needs the best.
Will you be appointing a Chief of Staff?
No, I will not be appointing a Chief of Staff. Most everyone who I believe to be competent and capable enough to assume a position of leadership will already be appointed as a Minister, so I find that there's no need to staff a position whose role is undefined and who I'd have no use for.
Suppose your plan was to coup The North Pacific. How would you go about executing that plan?
Simple answer: I wouldn't.
Frankly, my time would be better spent in an attempt to get legally elected rather than on trying to coup the region if I wanted to be Delegate (which I do, hence me running). I'm of the opinion that in this modern era, couping TNP is virtually impossible and would be a futile effort for anyone foolish enough to attempt it.
Not only do you betray an entire community when you coup, but you often lose out on friendships and have difficulty finding a new home once you're deposed. To me, that's just not worth it, especially when I know that one Security Councilor having border control authority would be all it would take to banject a would-be couper.
What region(s) do you think TNP should have a closer relationship with?
Strictly speaking about closer relationships and not alliances (since I wouldn't be willing to form those lightly), I could definitely see us getting closer to regions such as the UDS, Forest, and Spiritus. Now, what exactly those "closer relationships" would look like is up for speculation, but generally speaking, I wouldn't mind branching out and getting in contact with other regions for the purposes of the Communications Frenzy event (Think TRR, Lazarus, etc.) and the outsourcing of TNL articles that I mentioned earlier.
Otherwise, we could always get closer to our partners in WALL (Europe, Europeia, etc.) through the initiative that I proposed at the beginning of my campaign's section on WA Affairs. But beyond those regions, I'd have to see about how things line up once I'm in the chair
Will you be allowing the Vice Delegate to sit in on the Executive Council?
Absolutely. I think that doing so would be a great showing of good faith and would carry the benefit of them being able to share their own unique perspective on things in the executive. I'd gladly welcome the Vice Delegate and would even invite them to regularly chime in on discussions, should they wish to do so, since it's incredibly important for them to be familiar with the state of affairs in our region.
What does your availability look like over the next four months? How active can you reasonably be to achieve all of what you want to?
I will continue to be extremely active over the course of the next four months. Whether you message me at 4AM or 4PM, I'm likely to be around and I'll have an abundance of time to dedicate to my duties as your Delegate. I live in the midwestern United States, which operates off of central daylight time (CST), or GMT-5. This means that I have an advantageous timezone for WA votes, as proposals come to vote for me at 11AM and 11PM.
As for how I'll be able to reasonably achieve all of what I want to, I think that boils down to me having a strong work ethic, a fancy for an orderly approach, and a strong desire to succeed. As I said earlier, my press briefings will make for a roadmap to the success of the administration, and campaign items will constantly be referenced and reevaluated as we progress through the term.
That's an excellent question, and it's one that I spent a considerable amount of time exploring prior to launching my campaign.
If I had to sum up my platform in a few words or even a sentence, then I'd say something along the lines of: "New blood, new generation, the old way of doing things over," and I think that rejuvenation really speaks to that as far as a fitting theme for my candidacy goes.
If you look up the definition of rejuvenate, it'll say: "give new energy or vigour to; revitalize," with a secondary definition of [to] “restore a youthful appearance to.” Because what do I want to do? I want to give new energy to the executive branch, and my campaign is all about futureproofing our administration via the "new faces in new places" mantra. I think that we could always do well to adapt, be proactive, and be willing to step outside our comfort zone when and if there's an advantage in doing so.
Sometimes a different perspective or a different take on things is not only needed but is desirable. I definitely think that now is one of those times and so I chose rejuvenation because I feel like that'll what'll suit our region's needs the best.
Will you be appointing a Chief of Staff?
No, I will not be appointing a Chief of Staff. Most everyone who I believe to be competent and capable enough to assume a position of leadership will already be appointed as a Minister, so I find that there's no need to staff a position whose role is undefined and who I'd have no use for.
Suppose your plan was to coup The North Pacific. How would you go about executing that plan?
Simple answer: I wouldn't.
Frankly, my time would be better spent in an attempt to get legally elected rather than on trying to coup the region if I wanted to be Delegate (which I do, hence me running). I'm of the opinion that in this modern era, couping TNP is virtually impossible and would be a futile effort for anyone foolish enough to attempt it.
Not only do you betray an entire community when you coup, but you often lose out on friendships and have difficulty finding a new home once you're deposed. To me, that's just not worth it, especially when I know that one Security Councilor having border control authority would be all it would take to banject a would-be couper.
What region(s) do you think TNP should have a closer relationship with?
Strictly speaking about closer relationships and not alliances (since I wouldn't be willing to form those lightly), I could definitely see us getting closer to regions such as the UDS, Forest, and Spiritus. Now, what exactly those "closer relationships" would look like is up for speculation, but generally speaking, I wouldn't mind branching out and getting in contact with other regions for the purposes of the Communications Frenzy event (Think TRR, Lazarus, etc.) and the outsourcing of TNL articles that I mentioned earlier.
Otherwise, we could always get closer to our partners in WALL (Europe, Europeia, etc.) through the initiative that I proposed at the beginning of my campaign's section on WA Affairs. But beyond those regions, I'd have to see about how things line up once I'm in the chair
Will you be allowing the Vice Delegate to sit in on the Executive Council?
Absolutely. I think that doing so would be a great showing of good faith and would carry the benefit of them being able to share their own unique perspective on things in the executive. I'd gladly welcome the Vice Delegate and would even invite them to regularly chime in on discussions, should they wish to do so, since it's incredibly important for them to be familiar with the state of affairs in our region.
What does your availability look like over the next four months? How active can you reasonably be to achieve all of what you want to?
I will continue to be extremely active over the course of the next four months. Whether you message me at 4AM or 4PM, I'm likely to be around and I'll have an abundance of time to dedicate to my duties as your Delegate. I live in the midwestern United States, which operates off of central daylight time (CST), or GMT-5. This means that I have an advantageous timezone for WA votes, as proposals come to vote for me at 11AM and 11PM.
As for how I'll be able to reasonably achieve all of what I want to, I think that boils down to me having a strong work ethic, a fancy for an orderly approach, and a strong desire to succeed. As I said earlier, my press briefings will make for a roadmap to the success of the administration, and campaign items will constantly be referenced and reevaluated as we progress through the term.
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A BIG thank you to the Astor Family for their excellent graphics work!
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