[2537.CN] Kris Kringle's Cabinet Appointments

Assembly
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Greetings, South Pacificans!

It has been a while since I’ve been in the cabinet. Some of y’all may remember my days as Minister of Defence a year ago. It was quite the experience, but this is something completely new, at least if we compare both positions. For a long time I thought that “Integration” is a really complex topic to deal with, even reaching a point in which I thought it was unfixable.

But don’t get me wrong… nothing is unfixable. Everything is at least worth a try. It’s not totally unknown to all of us that integration, as well as recruitment, has consistently been seen as a high priority for Administration after Administration. I’m not making it up, we’ve got countless polls, and polls… It’s in everyone’s mind! And it’s not shocking, simply put: if The South Pacific doesn’t get new members, or more people involved, it will cease to exist, but this shouldn’t be – isn’t – inevitable.

At this point, it could be said that everyone has their own way of defining what “Integration” really means. To be completely honest, it’s difficult to imagine what a Minister of Integration should do, considering we haven’t seen one in a while that has brought visible results. Is “Integration” even measurable? Attracting new members may not be a simple task; it’s not just recruitment, or publishing dispatches. It would be a crime to say that TSP is not an active or interesting community.

Would it even be fair to say that TSP is just one community? Take this MoI agenda post of mine, for instance. I would love it if the South Pacificans who exclusively reside on the RMB and the TSP Discord server also gave this a read, to learn about who is campaigning for MoI and also to give their opinions.

MoI’s Main Goal:

As MoI, I think the main priority should be to somehow find (mainly) RMBers who may be interested in participating further (e.g. joining the forums, becoming a citizen, joining the Discord Server) but haven’t done so. Clearly, this is not an easy feat, as people may have priorities and interests that others do not have. However, some things could still be done. Some of the things I’ve thought about are:

  • Advertising activities that TSP offers but may be difficult to discover at first, such as the forum-side roleplays.

  • Promoting participation in TSP politics by showing the benefits of citizenship, as well as showing how interesting participation in the Assembly can be.

  • Publicizing TSP’s military, the SPSF, in order to recruit new members into the military gameplay side of TSP.

For this, I will send out regular messages to those who are new in TSP, in order to help them discover these parts of the community. This effort will be done through RMB posts, regional telegrams, as well as posts on the forum and discord server when possible.

Recruitment:

Almost one year ago, the South Pacific International Recruitment Initiative (SPIRIT) was launched. Made possible thanks to Europeia’s Asperta recruitment bot, it was supposed to attract and recruit countless new nations who weren’t founded in TSP. I’ll be straightforward with it: it hasn’t worked.

At the time SPIRIT was launched, TSP had around 4,500 nations. Now, however, TSP has 4,390. Then again, that seems like too simple an analysis. When SPIRIT started, TSP had more nations, but it was the region with the 10th most nations on the site. Now, with fewer nations, we’re 8th. Does NationStates overall have fewer nations now? Could be.

A major problem with SPIRIT was that it didn’t measure and track several different variables that are important to recruitment. Perhaps our views on integration and recruitment would be different if we knew:

  • How many nations actually joined TSP due to SPIRIT’s recruitment telegrams?

  • How many of these nations stayed for a reasonable amount of time?

  • How many of these nations were actually integrated into the community, instead of just joining the region?

  • How many nations is TSP losing per day (CTEs/emigration)?

  • How does the number of nations in NationStates vary over time?

Clearly, tracking this manually will be quite a challenge. Ideally, we would have our own recruitment bot and program to track these, but alas, I don’t know how to code. It will have to be manual for now.

Why do I even care so much about tracking how effective SPIRIT has been? I did say it didn’t work, and it’s for a reason. If a program doesn’t have any results to show, I think that it’s pretty safe to say that it didn’t function at all.

Another big issue with the SPIRIT program is the lack of active recruiters. It’s quite evident that recruitment cannot be magically solved by one single person and a dream. Preferably, the Minister of Integration should be a coordinator of a Ministry of Integration comprised of several members who are active recruiters for the region and who also advertise other TSP activities. It’s not hard to see that the more recruitment and promotion we do, the more members we’ll attract.

This is why I plan to recruit recruiters, if you forgive the repetition. If the assembly, or the SPSF, or TSP roleplays can be small communities of their own, why can’t TSP have a community dedicated to recruitment?

I will admit, this is not completely new, and could be seen like a new attempt to SPIRIT, but some of the things I would love to introduce are:

  • Recruitment competitions. Inspired by my previous experience as MoD, there could be something similar to the SPSF service awards, which could be earned by the most prolific recruiters.

  • Writing competitions. Recruiters would write different recruitment telegrams, and then a vote could be held to see what the “best” recruitment telegram is.

  • Hold events in the discord server, advertised in the other places, whenever TSP hits specific recruitment milestones.

Final Words:

I’ve always thought I was quite an idealist. It’s true that integration has always been on our minds, and it’s something that’s not easy to tackle; or else we would probably have moved on from it already, happy with some results.

I have decided to stick with plans that I honestly believe could be possible to do. Advertising our community to those who may not know about it, and giving SPIRIT a second real chance to function is something I’d be content with. Of course, I would love to hear your opinions and suggestions. A stubborn MoI that doesn’t listen to any ideas and thoughts from the community itself may be even worse than not having a MoI.

Please, I beg you, integration is not an issue that can be effectively solved by one single person. I’m here to coordinate, give the first ideas, and have the initiative, but if any of you want to collaborate in any of the efforts, I’d love to have you as a recruiter.

Conflict of Interest Statement:

I’m pretty sure many of you know me already. I’ve been a member of TSP since 2021, and I have been a citizen of TSP, as well as a Legislator for a while now. I’m also a SPSF Lieutenant, and I previously was Minister of Defence under PM Penguin as well as a Junior Commander in Libcord. I have been on NationStates since 2015, and I was a resident of TNP for 5 years, as well as a TNP Citizen in 2016 for a brief period. I also am one of the founders and publisher of the independent TSP newspaper, The South Seas Gazette. Finally, my NS-related activities are mainly SPSF or RP-related (on the TSP forum).

I hope to be a reliable and efficient MoI for the term, and will begin my work on the ideas I suggested for integration as soon as possible.

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CN2506 [2537.CN] Kris Kringle’s Cabinet Appointments
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South Pacificans!
I’m stoked to kick off this term as your Minister of Culture! For those who know me from the RMB chaos, you know I love our community’s mix of memes, wild ideas, and constant activity. For those who don’t, now’s your chance to see what TSP culture is all about, and hopefully even join in.

Here’s the plan for this term:
• Seasonal WFE Contest
Every season, we’ll throw a community contest to redesign the World Factbook Entry. Want a spooky WFE for Halloween or a crab-themed one for… well, anytime? Now’s your chance. Everyone votes, everyone participates and TSP looks awesome.
• Screenshot of the Week
TSP is full of absurd, chaotic, and hilarious moments. Each week (when I get the chance), I’ll pick the best screenshot from RMB posts, forum drama, or gameside shenanigans and feature it in a dispatch for all to see. This is basically our way of saying: “Yeah, that just happened, and it was glorious.”
• Cards Against NationStates Nights
You know the game, you know the chaos. We’ll organize chill-but-unhinged game nights on The Forums. Expect weird combos, RNG hilarity, and probably a lot of crabs.
• Culinary Contest Returns (TSP Edition)
Our infamous food contests are back. Bring your weirdest, funniest, or most cursed dishes. Bonus points if it actually looks edible. This isn’t about cooking — it’s about creativity, chaos, and meme energy.
• Collabs & Open Ideas
Got a cultural project? A mini-event? Swanvision? A dumb meme you want immortalized in TSP history? Hit me up. The Ministry of Culture isn’t just me — it’s anyone who wants to contribute.
• Cross-Venue Fun
Everything above will be promoted on RMB, Discord, and the forum, so no matter where you hang out, you’re part of it. If you’ve got a good idea but aren’t on Discord or the forum, don’t worry — I’ll find a way to make sure you’re in the loop.
• RMB Mayor Elections

One of my top priorities is keeping RMB Mayor elections alive and hype. I’ll make sure elections run smoothly, with polls posted regularly and fun engagement for all participants. This is our chance to give everyone a voice in the chaos and help keep the region lively and interactive.

Final Thoughts
This term is about fun, chaos, and TSP identity. I want everyone to feel included, creative, and entertained. Let’s make this term memorable, meme-worthy, and just a little unhinged. Exactly how we like it.

– Zhuanghwei, Minister of Culture

(Quick note: I will be looking for some assistance when needed because I cannot get discord or for timing reasons)

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Do you plan on doing any RMB Mayor Elections?

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Ah, Thank you for bringing this up. I totally forgot about that. RMB Mayor elections are probably one of, if not the most important things to me because it is a key part of community engagement. I will ensure that elections are conducted fairly, transparently, and on schedule, while also promoting participation so that all residents have the opportunity to run and contribute to our great Coalition!

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@Vrigny and @Zhuang are both excellent choices, and I look forward to supporting their confirmation with my vote.

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  1. What does it exactly means?
  1. How often will this happen? Are there any plans to announce this anywhere other than the forums?
  1. How exactly will you ensure this assistance? How will you ensure that this assistant in question is able to meet your deadlines?

  1. How often? What are the requirements to become a candidate?

  2. How will you conduct the surveys related to the Culinary Contest? On the NS itself?

  3. Could you provide your conflicts of interest?

Thanks in advance

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By ‘every season,’ I’m referring to holiday or special-themed periods rather than the four astronomical seasons. Each themed WFE entry will be displayed for roughly one month before reverting to the standard design.

Cards Against NationStates nights will be organized on a regular, recurring basis, likely biweekly to monthly, depending on community interest and participation. All events will be promoted across multiple TSP platforms, including the RMB, Discord, and forum (mostly RMB) to ensure maximum accessibility and engagement for residents regardless of which platform they primarily use.

I will coordinate with trusted volunteers or fellow community members who can serve as points of contact. These assistants will receive clear instructions, deadlines, and templates for managing submissions and event participation. I will maintain regular communication with them to ensure tasks are completed on schedule and that all entries or event information are collected accurately and in a timely manner.

  1. RMB Mayor elections will be held monthly, with adjustments possible based on community needs. Any resident who can demonstrate consistent activity on the RMB is eligible to run. To maintain fair rotation, candidates may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms before they must wait until January to run again. To close a loophole, if someone decides to run two terms in November-December, they cannot be reelected in January. They must wait until February.
  2. Surveys for the Culinary Contest will be conducted directly on NationStates, using polls to ensure accessibility for all residents.
  3. At this time, I have no conflicts of interest to disclose. My schedule, including school commitments on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., should not interfere with my ability to fairly and transparently organize cultural events and initiatives for The South Pacific.
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So are you organising events for times that suit you or times that suit the community?

I am concerned about this as a real teacher, you will have assignments, homework, projects and exams and assessments which require time and effort and these actually go above and beyond the 8AM to 3PM bracket so they actually will interfere with your ability and time allocated to NS activities.

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What about the weekend :stuck_out_tongue:

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I am happy for both the appointments of @Zhuang and @Vrigny. I will vote for both when there at vote.

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The homework and assignments and the like will also carry over to the weekend, yeah, you might get away with Friday night and Saturday all day but if you are like typical students, you will be cramming Sunday evening and so Sunday evening is out. I don’t have the confidence you will realistically have time for school AND for NS. You’re going to burn out. I cannot, in good conscience, support that.

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Im sure Zhaung can lock in and get their work done during the school week.

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What I required is that you describe all your alts and possible affiliations and positions you hold in other regions and in TSP itself.

Do you have an ideal number of recruiters in mind?

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When will they get the Friday homework done then?

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Not necessarily! Recruitment is a game of quantity. Theoretically, the more recruiters we have, the better results we’ll get. I guess I should say that it wouldn’t be efficient by any means, if we look at the number of telegrams we’d be sending compared to our recruits, but we’ll get more recruits overall.

But yeah, if I have to tell you a specific number, I haven’t really thought about one. Currently TSP has 8 recruiters, and it’s nowhere near to enough. I’d love to see us having 20-30 recruiters at least, but we’re at starting point and I don’t expect us to reach those numbers immediately.

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Most teachers I know got give homework on Fridays. And even if they do I’m sure Zhuangs events won’t take to much time to set up.

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I think we can trust someone to know how to handle their school schedule.

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I don’t know any teachers other than PE teachers that don’t give homework on Fridays and you can take it from me, I am a teacher.

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Well, not necessarily, I think it’s very easy to say now, yeah, it’ll be grand, and find out later it won’t. Seriously, Kris, answer me this. What happens when the person you have nominated for MoC comes to you and says, ‘I’m so behind on my work.’ Do you say, ‘I think we can trust you to manage your school schedule’, or do you say, ‘Oh! I didn’t see that coming!’

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I find this discussion somewhat odd. Is the suggestion that our government positions must be filled exclusively by unemployed individuals or people who are so independently wealthy that they don’t need to work or attend school?

It strikes me as highly likely that dozens–if not hundreds–of students have served in TSP government over the years. As have many people with other pressing RL obligations (jobs, families, etc.). Our expectation is that these people will manage their RL obligations in a way that allows them sufficient time for their NS responsibilities, and, if it turns out that they can’t, then they should resign their position and focus on RL. Beyond asking generally if folks feel that they can handle their official responsibilities before entering office, I don’t think that we should be closely scrutinizing their daily schedules or categorically excluding people in certain walks of life (e.g., students) from office.

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