Opening Address - May 2021

And... I am back!

First of all, I am really grateful to @Robespierre for appointing me back in this position. Hopefully, this term would turn out to be better than the last month, and we could get more things ahead!

I will also be taking this time to line out some tasks that we have ahead of us, some goals that I intend to achieve over these 4 months.

1) Activity Levels
Communications is a ministry that is extremely reliant on activity levels. When activity levels are high, articles get through, and we get more TNL and Polaris issues. When activity levels stagnate, the number of articles decrease. As a result, the ministry will be conducting a roll call, and I would like to take this time to welcome more members of TNP to come onboard and join the ministry. So if you are interested in being a writer for the ministry, I would like to invite you to take this time to make an application here

2) TNL and Polaris
In light of the current manpower shortage and low activity levels, The Northern Lights will be taking a back seat this term, with Polaris the main focus for the ministry. I believe that there is potential for the usage of Polaris as an avenue to provide updates to the TNP population, as well as update our foreign friends and partners. Polaris articles is also a very good starting point for aspiring writers, allowing them to begin with smaller articles about things happening in the region. I hope that we would be able to get around 10-15 Polaris articles at the very least for this term. To kickstart the process, there would be a few articles that we would start work on soon. I would like to take this time to encourage everyone to provide ideas for articles here.

With regards to TNL, we will be temporarily shelving the planned edition of the Regional Development Issue, and the ministry leadership will be discussing about the way to move forward for TNL, as well as brainstorm for ideas we would be using for TNL this cycle.

3) Ministry structure and breeding new talent
Understanding that communications is not an easy place to be in, due to its demands with regards to activity levels, I will be aiming to split the workload more evenly, as well as take the opportunity to induct newcomers into the leadership structure. The ministry would retain its crop of Senior Comms Staff, and these would be the group of staff that will be providing advice to the leadership and the ministry as a whole. On the other hand, I am targetting to have 2 deputies this term, one mainly in charge of Polaris, and the other in charge of TNL. @Gorundu has kindly agreed to stay on as Deputy Minister, and I am currently looking out for a second deputy. If anyone is interested and able to commit to the position, please do reach out to me on the forums or via Discord. I am very willing to get more newcomers into the leadership structure.

And that is it from me, for now.

- Fregerson

As part of the changes to the leadership, @Nimarya has indicated that they will be stepping down as Senior Comms Staff. I thank them for their contributions in that position. On the other hand, we will be welcoming @BMWSurfer and @Electrum to the ranks of Senior Comms Staff. BMW is my predecessor in the position, while Electrum is a prominent issues editor in NS. Both of them would bring their experiences to add value to the ministry as a whole.