First of all, I would like to thank you for your vote of confidence on this. Much of the reason for the continual decline of my nominations over the years was the increasing professional standards of the Delegates and Ministers over time. I literally have no skill with fancy graphics or coding, or elaborate spreadsheets. Do I want to learn those in due time? Sure, but I just don’t have the time to dedicate to learning that at this point in time (nor do my RL actions require that of me).
Your criticisms against me used to drive me insane, but I quickly realized that they weren’t some sort of character assassination. Right…? Right…? (insert padme meme here) Rather, they were your way of ensuring that the government is competent, and at least for me, caused me to work harder at the job I was given.
Over the next several months, should I be elected, I will try and prove that it doesn’t take a tech-savvy Delegate to interact with the region. It is my hope that a new generation of South Pacifians is ready to take up the mantle of regional governance under my tenure and after it.
Now to get to your questions…
No matter which way the election goes, you are correct in that I am the manager of the Mentorship program. It is also entirely possible that the next PM decides to do away with the program as an arm of the executive branch. If that is or isn’t the case, I still intend to serve as a mentor to anyone that will have me. Should I become Delegate, it will make the mentor position all the more valuable since the most visible nation in the region is helping new nations out. Further, no matter what happens in either election, the mentor program is going to be massively decentralized and less bureaucratic. That thread within the ministry area? Gone.
I also hope that a culture of introducing ourselves to new members continues to take hold. We already have seen an uptick in people welcoming new nations onto the forums, and I would love to see that continue and even see them offer their assistance should they want to. I would like to claim credit and say that it was the mentorship program causing this, but I think it was actually kind of a natural occurrence, so that is even better in my book!
As for integrating RMBers into the program, I think it will greatly have to do with the initial welcome message that a new nation would receive upon spawning. Letting the new nation know that I, their Delegate, have an open Telegram inbox to answer any questions, comments, concerns, or just plain be there to talk to them is an important role that I can play. That naturally opens up the avenue of getting them to get onto our forums and Discord in due time. The biggest obstacle any new nation has is the sheer amount of information that they need to process in order to begin playing our part of the game. Giving them time to digest it, dip their toe in the water, and ask questions along the way will, in my opinion, be far better than any guide (though those will still be needed).
As for your second question:
I am generally available for any major or minor updates. If I know in advance (via the PM or delegated minister) that my vote would be needed quickly to set the tone for the vote, then you can be all but guaranteed that I will be there to cast the vote the moment it becomes available.