LordNwahs for PM

Election Central
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lordnwahs for PM

Hi citizens of TSP! I am Nwahs, and I am running to be your next Prime Minister.

Before I present my platform, do read the following, especially if this is the first time you’ve seen me around — you can click on it to unhide it:

Who am I? Why am I running?

I usually go by lordnwahs on the forum since it is my discord handle, and I’d usually stylize it as LordNwahs (or sometimes Lord Nwahs). You can also call me Nwahs or DiD.

I am currently the OWL Director — in-charge of the day-to-day running of World Assembly discussion and voting threads on the TSP Discord, as well as running a small but very dedicated team of volunteers to provide timely analysis on WA resolutions at-vote. You may know me for my aggressive pinging on the announcements channel on the TSP Discord over the run of this term.

I’ve called TSP home since January of this year, when I decided to return to NS on a whim after a 9-year hiatus, and as luck would have it my nation (Differences-in-Differences) spawned in a field of llamas and lampshades. Ever since, I have been enjoying sipping SPIT while incessantly playing spam games here on the forum. I’ve been a citizen, a legislator, and of course the current OWL Director in my 6 months here thus far.

TSP is not my first home as a GPer in NS — that would be TNP, where I was once active between 2013-2015. I am still a citizen in TNP and I do not intend to end my citizenship there due to my old ties to and deep fondness for the region, but I do not currently hold any office there, nor do I intend to hold any office there anytime in the near (or even long) future. For the most part, I’ve been more politically active in TSP compared to TNP since my return to NS six months ago, I consider myself to be someone who holds strong democratic and defender values, and I will always put the Coalition’s interests first when acting as an office-holder here, however big or small that office might be.

TSP has been a more than welcoming home since my arrival, and I am running for this office so that other new or returning players can also find this place as welcoming as I have found it to be. After all, I don’t think there is any other large region in NS whereby someone could possibly contemplate a serious run for its highest executive office this early on in their career here, and to me that is a testament to TSP as a functioning and empowering democracy here on NS.

My Agenda for Activity — Accountability, Action, Advancement

Much has been said about the state of activity in the region over the last few months or so, within the Assembly and on the TSP Discord. I don’t think I have much else to add to this discussion that has not already been said, except that I think it is worth reflecting on what is possible in the context of a 21-year old text-based browser game whose active player-base fluctuates constantly over the years. That being said, if elected, I will always seek to lead a government that has activity at its heart. If elected, I promise the following:

  • My cabinet and I will be accountable to all citizens. In my view, accountability is a precondition for government to have any meaningful impact on activity in the region. This means consistent updates to from myself and from my cabinet ministers on the latest policy developments, on the forum and on discord, and where practicable on the RMB as well. This also means direct answers from myself or my cabinet ministers when questions are asked by citizens or legislators. I will also endeavor to be honest whenever I or my cabinet members have fallen short on our aims. Finally, I will work towards a new model for communicating with the region — more on that when I detail my plans for the upcoming term.
  • My cabinet will always prioritize action — what useful projects can be done within the span of one term, rather than lofty aims that often result in burnout from rookie ministers. This is not to say that we are abandoning long-term vision, or that my cabinet ministers cannot implement projects that may require effort that takes more than one term, but I think it is always important to emphasize feasible projects if there is to be an active government. I think this notion of “action” will be clear when I talk more about my plans for the upcoming term below. That being said, I will always empower my ministers to pursue actions that they see fit and that I agree will be of benefit to the region, so long as the initial priorities that I have been elected on are met.
  • My cabinet will be one that prioritizes opportunities for advancement for new or less experienced members in the region. This is important for sustaining activity in the long-term, as members come and go. I intend on appointing new faces to my upcoming cabinet, and in the projects that my cabinet will execute, there will always be a concerted effort to reach out to members, old and new, to volunteer and gain meaningful experience. I also intend on encouraging my cabinet ministers and their deputies to share their experiences and assist one another whenever possible, so that anyone involved in government will feel that they are advancing not only in their own portfolio, but advancing more in their knowledge about the functioning of all aspects of the executive in the Coalition.

My plans for the next term

If elected, I intend for my cabinet to consist of 6 ministries. Some of these ministries have overlap in terms of various projects, some of them will vary in scale, and it is possible that in my eventual cabinet, if elected, there wouldn’t be exactly 6 full cabinet ministers — possibly more, possibly less, depending on whether I think a ministry requires more than one full cabinet minister, or if one person can wear two hats.

Here I lay out my plans and projects that each ministry in my government will undertake. These are not exhaustive plans, but overall they form what I think are the baseline objectives of the government I would form if elected. I will also put a bold PROJECT next to items that I think are worth further discussion and are examples of the kind of useful projects that epitomize my objective of action that I mentioned earlier.

Defense

I will be the first to admit that I have the least amount of knowledge about defense operations in the current cabinet. That being said, if elected, I am fully committed to appointing as MoD a currently active SPSF member of at least Ensign rank who can maintain current SPSF recruitment methods and is willing to learn about SPSF operations from a higher vantage point than they are currently viewing things from, keeping with my plan for advancing newer members. Whenever possible, I will engage with the SPSF Admiralty to further formulate aims as my term continues — and these aims, if sensitive, will be communicated to the Assembly through the usual channels.

Foreign Affairs

I also have major gaps in my Foreign Affairs knowledge, and I will almost certainly appoint someone who has more experience in that regard to helm the portfolio. That being said, I do intend the Foreign Affairs ministry to commit to the following if I am elected:

  • Continue engaging with defenders and other treatied allies, apprising them of TSP events and developments throughout my term in office, while inviting them to engage TSPers in their own regional events where possible. The most ideal would be inter-regional collaboration (e.g. an event run by culture ministries in two or more regions), but this is more context-dependent and something that would be nice rather than necessary.
  • Continue efforts to engage other regions that are not traditionally in the R/D sphere, especially smaller regions who traditionally we do not have significant ties with.
  • PROJECT: I intend on trialing a small-scale return to the ambassadorship system, with an emphasis on ambassadors writing reports on developments in different regions. This is more of an investigation into whether there is any scope or value for projects that can involve newer TSPers in the realm of foreign affairs, which for better or for worse tends to be the domain of experienced GPers.

Like with Defense, I intend on having discussions with TSPers that are more experienced in foreign policy as diplomatic situations develop, and if these discussions involve sensitive information, they will take place via the usual channels in the Assembly, or if especially serious, with the CRS.

Culture

My aim for the Culture ministry in this term would be that it continues the good work that has been done thus far in terms of creating interesting events for all TSPers, commemorating regional holidays, and also in terms of game nights and other such activities on Discord and the RMB. I do have one project in mind at least, but this is certainly one of the ministries that I hope more people might want to volunteer to work on various specific projects, and a ministry where I intend on providing my Culture minister space to pursue their own agenda where possible.

  • PROJECT - A TSP Awards ceremony. This would involve formulating superlative categories (e.g. “Most active RMBer”, “least pretentious cake enjoyer”), taking nominations for these awards via Discord or the Forums, and voting on the award winners via the RMB.
  • Culture is also where I’m parking any liaisons with the RP community here in TSP with. I do want someone to continue supporting Flaming’s excellent CYOA as Silva has done thus far, and I look forward to engaging with the RP community and finding out more about how the Culture ministry can support them in this term, if elected.

Integration

I probably have a slightly different conception of the Integration portfolio as it has been executed when Henn was PM. If elected, I intend for the Ministry of Integration to be the link between our government and the on-site TSP community, rather than mostly a technical-oriented role, as is the perception towards the later end of Henn’s term when I first joined TSP. Integration will still be where work on maintaining dispatches on-site continues to be administered, but I intend for my Integration minister to have their finger on the proverbial pulse of the RMB. I have 2 “projects” that I intend the Integration ministry to oversee in the upcoming term, on top of other initiatives that the Integration minister might have in mind:

  • PROJECT 1: A “mini-reboot” of the Local Council, but rather this will take the form of trusted members of the TSP community who are active on the RMB (e.g. RMB moderators, long-time TSPers who regularly visit the RMB, possibly the Delegate as well) being appointed into this new “LC”. This informal “LC” would be a platform to raise developments in the RMB and run through ideas on integrating new TSPers into the forum and Discord if possible.
  • PROJECT 2: Running a “mentorship” scheme — this is not totally full-blown mentorship, but rather identifying new members who have just joined the forum or Discord from on-site, new active RMBers who have not made the hop, and actively engaging with them to answer questions that they might have about the region by communicating via private messages/telegrams and other means.

I think it can be slightly difficult to judge whether these two initiatives alone will have any substantial effect on drawing in more TSPers than, say, what the Delegate already does with their fortnightly addresses. I’d wager though that it is better than doing nothing, which is the unfortunate equilibrium that we have found ourselves in over time.

Engagement

Yes, I’m bringing back Engagement, and the Ministry of Engagement is the cornerstone of the new model for communications that my government will pursue if I am elected.

  • PROJECT: Engagement will be in-charge of writing “news bulletins” that serve as a means of updating the broader region as well as other regions on events that happen right here in TSP. These bulletins will be published in dispatch form and also posted to the usual diplomatic channels including TSP’s NS forum thread.
  • “Long-term” PROJECT: Engagement will eventually take over the running of various dispatches that clearly have a more “communications” bent, such as the TSP Interviews currently done by Silva, or the recipes that Penguin published during Drew’s term. This is with the potential view of re-instituting a regional newsletter or newspaper of sorts that would contain these interesting items along with longer-form analyses and op-eds.

If elected, this is certainly a ministry that I will be involved heavily in along with any minister that ends up working here. In all honesty, I don’t think a full-blown regional newsletter is something I would fully commit to as achievable within this term, but I certainly think pushing out a news bulletin system throughout this term would be something that is clearly achievable, and is something that new members can be involved in.

World Assembly Legislation

If elected, I will remain actively involved in OWL, even if I do appoint a new OWL Director at some point to take over the day-to-day running of the threads and coordinating OWL volunteers who write analyses. As I have said previously, my vision for OWL is for a resolution-drafting culture to take hold here. As such, OWL will be involved in one major project this term, to bring us closer to this vision:

  • PROJECT: Resolution-Drafting Workshop — I intend on setting up a permanent area in the TSP forum that will be dedicated to resources on drafting good GA or SC resolutions, as well as a safe space for members to post their GA/SC drafts as well before being subjected to the cauldron that is the NS forums. I intend for OWL volunteers and myself to also contribute constructively to drafts that are posted in this new area. To help kick-start things, I will certainly post some draft resolutions in this new area. This is new territory, even for me!
  • I also intend on establishing a leaderboard system for quality contributions to OWL threads, to memorialize good contributions to discussion and voting threads by various members, with the hope of improving the quality of debate on resolutions. Details to still be worked out on.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading — it’s a very long read, I’m sure! I am sure that for some of you, it may be a big ask to vote for someone who has only been in the region for six months, and who has only been in Cabinet for roughly less than three of those months, but I do hope that you consider voting for me in this election, or at the very least that you consider the agenda and plans that I have put forth. I look forward to any and all questions.

Conflict-of-Interest Declaration

The South Pacific: Citizen, Legislator, OWL Director (in Cabinet).
The North Pacific: Citizen. Ex-Speaker, Ex-Minister of Culture, Ex-Security Council member (all offices held circa 2014-2015).

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Do you have any specific plans for Tidal Force?

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Admittedly, this is a very solid campaign. I appreciate you adding potential projects which detail the work you will actually try to do if elected. I like some of the ideas, but have a few questions about them.

We had an ambassadorship system which was disbanded in 2022. Looking back through old forum posts and Discord messages, it seems like the main reason was participant activity. I understand your project would be a small trial, but how will you keep ambassadors engaged and on track with their jobs? (Considering that was the main issue with the old system).

I did a year-end ceremony awards ceremony for 2022 that is similar to the one you proposed. I like this idea a lot and it’s great for keeping residents engaged.

I used to be the biggest supporter of the Local Council. I now realize how stupid and fruitless the body was. I feel like having some sort of informal Local Council is just a combination of the current Minister of Culture and RMB moderators. If we want to integrate game side users to our offsite technology, that should be the job of the Minister of Integration without making some sort of informal Local Council. How will this Local Council be different? How will it be useful?

Griffindor had a program like this a year or two ago. I’m not really sure what happened to it. I like this idea a lot but it seems like a carbon copy of Griffindor’s program. How will yours succeed? What would the program look like in terms of mentors? Would mentees be assigned to mentors because of the latter’s specialities (i.e. a mentor is experienced with the SPSF and the mentee is looking to get involved in gameplay and R/D)?

———

On another note, I think you’re a very skilled candidate for the job. From what I can tell, your tenure as OWL Director has brought positive results. You’ve also published a pretty solid campaign in my opinion.

I’m not doubting you, but one major concern comes to mind. Most of your projects are programs that we’ve experimented with in years past and haven’t fared too well. My main, overarching question: what will be different about your trials with these programs and systems? How will you make them succeed?

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I have to a agree @maluhia, It is a really solid campaign, and also like @maluhia, I do like that you have projects that you possibly will or will definitely do when your elected and throughout your term. I do agree with most of your ideas, on each ministry.

I have to agree again with @maluhia, even though on am on the very newer side of things here on TSP, I have read many old posts, and many profiles that showed the ambassadorship in the profile for example, so clearly when I saw it their end dates on their ambassadorship and no mention about it clearly the experimentation on it and the project in general died out, but I am excited to see it come back, if it does happen :slightly_smiling_face:.

Last thing I will say is that I feel you @lordnwahs are a very qualified and very good candidate for PM!

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From your perspective, how does writing news updates about other regions translate into foreign affairs know-how?

How do you envision tasks like this — which involve recurring work over a longer period of time, but not necessarily a constant pace of rapid development — within your agenda of prioritizing one-term projects?

This sounds a lot like choosing a group of advisors based on their RMB activity.

  • Why adopt the Local Council moniker (and all of its voluminous baggage) if your goal, if I understand correctly, isn’t to recreate a pseudo-devolved local government?
  • Would this ‘council’ be a self-contained unit, separated from other ministry staff, at least to some extent? If so, what is your reasoning behind that decision? And if not, how does this ‘council’ differ from appointing advisors or staffers to the ministry, just making sure that some of those folks are active on the RMB?

My experience from the last time we tried a mentorship program was that proactiveness is great, but just offering to ask questions lacked directionality because it relies on newcomers knowing what to ask. That’s why, back when I was working on integration, I referred to ‘pathways to engagement,’ the idea that there are journeys that players move through, directionally, to join our community. How do you envision mentors helping to not just help players as they get more involved, but also guide them towards getting more involved in the first place?

Apologies for the long question — also totally fine if you disagree with the premise; I’d be interested to discuss why!

With the emphasis on communications, this sounds a lot like the Ministry of Media.

  • Do you think that’s a fair comparison?
  • If not, how would a Ministry of Engagement in your administration differ from the Ministry of Media?
  • How would you respond to some of the reasons why we abolished the Ministry of Media? I think this quote from one of Belschaft’s, like, four campaigns to abolish it is a decent summary:

Three times the region has voted for someone else. And after another four months of failure we are back where we were before, with an inactive Ministry of Media that serves no purpose and does no good. The Ministry of Media does not add value to our region; it does not enhance our influence and reputation abroad, whilst at home it simply adds an extra layer of bureaucracy and an additional elected cabinet position to our government.

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Thanks everyone for the questions, I’ll endeavor to answer them to the best of my ability.

On the Tidal Force

Good question! I was going to add a section about Tidal Force but frankly speaking I realize I’d mostly be talking about things I have not a clue in the world about at that point. The plan is to stick to the status quo as at first, and follow up on any plans on growing the Tidal Force with my MoD and the broader officer corps in the SPSF when things settle down.

On Ambassadorship

I’m well-aware that it previously existed, and that similar schemes tend not to work very well from my observations even in other large regions. My intent is for MoFA or a trusted deputy to check in semi-frequently with the new ambassador corps (basically once or twice a week). One way (implementation to be discussed with whoever ends up as MoFA) is that we maintain a list of events across the regions that we intend on trialing this ambassadorship system and basically assign these ambassadors to work on updating the list and providing details on events as they come along in their assigned regions, instead of just giving them a portfolio to manage with total autonomy (which is probably too daunting for newer members).

To be honest, it doesn’t translate well, if your view of FA is basically the “smoke-filled room”, or more accurately “Discord PMs to thrash out a treaty” theory of FA. The reason I would stick to this at the start is that there is very little to no way for totally new members to even get their foot through the door with no formal opportunities to basically represent TSP in other regions. As I said, it’s a trial.

On the “Local Council”

Thanks for your questions and the responses on the Discord thus far. I’ll be the first to admit that functionally, my intention with this “LC” reboot is not really to reinvent the wheel on a separate institution that was abolished for a reason, but rather to be an advisory body for the Minister of Integration (so to address Pronoun’s second item, it’s the latter, and it’s practically not too different from appointing advisors/deputies). I am not married to keeping the name LC and perhaps I won’t call it an LC. I’ll leave the details on execution to after I am elected.

I would want to push back a bit on Maluhia’s assertion — I do think that there is some use and value in consultative bodies (formal or informal), even if at the end of the day the buck stops with the cabinet and myself on actually engaging with the RMB. All of us have blind spots regardless of our position, and I would rather have, in some capacity, a body more reflective of the gameside community present than absent in my government.

On the Discord, Drystar has commented that the RMB mod team has to remain apolitical to do its job effectively. I understand this and I will not involve the RMB moderation team in any form of this body, and this extends to the Delegate as well.

On maintaining dispatches

To me, maintenance and expansion of dispatches is a necessary aspect of TSP government — if we don’t do it, who will? And the dispatches themselves are a vital piece of how we integrate newer players into the game, so we would have to do it regardless. I understand that it doesn’t really fit into the same framework of action that I have outlined in my platform, but I do see it as the one long-term project that my minister and their deputies would need to be involved in on top of the other integration projects that I have proposed.

On the technical aspects of dispatch maintenance (e.g. the automations that yourself and Viet have been in involved in previously), I am willing to discuss this further over Discord instead of on here.

On Mentorship

My aim with the mentorship system is honestly far simpler than that, and is probably not mutually exclusive with the idea that Griff executed previously. What I intend is that new forum/discord members/recent RMBers (that are not silent bots) get personalized welcome PMs/DMs/telegrams from integration staff (the “mentors”) to just engage them on questions that they might have. There will have to be a flowchart for how this is executed, but the idea is that we quickly identify members who might be waiting for citizenship to process or who are just lurking so that we don’t “lose” them when citizenship is processed 3 weeks later.

For what it’s worth, I really like your idea, and I think it is something that can be integrated in a more simple way into the mentorship system that I have in mind — when we reach out to new members, we need to emphasize several opportunities that they can get involved in immediately (e.g. if a ministry requires staff or volunteers for a particular project, or Tidal Force recruitment, etc.) and ask them if they wish to know more about a certain project. The exact details is of course context-dependent, but I do foresee that some thought will need to go into a flowchart to guide newer members towards involvement in the region, so that mentors don’t feel overwhelmed in guiding their assigned/volunteered “mentee”.

On Engagement

From what I’ve seen on the old forums, the old Ministry of Media was apparently a bureaucratic mess, and more of a relic of the old system of elected ministers and bloated staff systems. For as long as ministers remain appointed, I do not intend on going down that route so spare me Belschaft.

For starters, as I mentioned in my first project, Engagement will be primarily tasked with rapid outreach on all platforms (gameside, forums, discord) during events and policy announcements. This is its primary remit and objective in the upcoming term. The cabinet will maintain a calendar of events in order to track what the region needs to be updated on, and the Engagement minister will be in-charge of formulating how these events are communicated to the public and to our allies and diplomatic partners.

I mentioned that I will be quite personally invested into Engagement myself, and my long-term view is that there is a newsletter that will contain items such as interviews, recipes, and maybe op-eds. Before the anti-Ministry of Media alarm bells sound off, I want to state unequivocally that I don’t intend for there to be massive employment of staff (there are frankly more important projects that I want to accomplish in this term) but my Engagement minister and I will work on identifying and recruiting volunteers who are willing and able to contribute more “communications-based” work on their own volition, on top of what I intend to contribute.

On making the projects work

sheer grit I will aim in my term to be as realistic as possible about what we can accomplish with what resources we can muster, and I will be upfront about challenges that my cabinet faces. Henn mentioned on the Discord that there are basically two things to make projects work: people, and more energy in people, and I totally agree with that. If I cannot muster a sufficiently large team, then this will necessarily limit the scope of my projects. Even if things “fail”, I want to still make qualified successes that future governments can work on.

With that in mind, what I endeavor to do in this term to make things “different” is to address recruitment and manpower, which is exactly why I emphasize advancement in my agenda. This is not recruitment for recruitment’s sake — we don’t need a permanent executive staff — but rather ensuring that ministers feel empowered to employ new staff, deputies or volunteers whenever necessary, like Silva and I have done in the past term. This also means having cabinet help each other where possible — there is no reason why the Engagement minister cannot be involved in the staff for a Culture event, or why the Integration minister cannot be involved in the ambassadorial pilot project.

I look forward to follow-up questions and more questions on different parts of my platform.

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My concern is more that the trial will look like a success, because you are offering newcomers an avenue to ‘do foreign affairs,’ without actually helping them enter the smoke-filled room. There have been previous efforts to let out some of the smoke, like this or, at risk of tooting my own horn, this or this. My concern is that the ambassador system instead creates an illusion of meaningful FA — because people are, at a literal level, paying attention to other regions — but doesn’t actually cultivate any sense into how other regions position their interests against each other and how we can position ours. Knowing what cultural events a region held in the last month doesn’t help at all if they suddenly come knocking on our door for support in a dispute with another one of our allies; it just keeps people busy with the illusion that it’s helpful.

Okay, fine, but just saying, I’d rather not visit this page more than I’d like… especially if it’s not that different from appointing advisors and hence not really even a defined ‘council’ per se?

That might be distinct from our particular staffer system, but that sounds a lot like the definition of the word ‘staff’? I think some of the criticisms of the Ministry of Media weren’t just about bureaucracy within the ministry, but also about how the ministry itself was bureaucracy. How would this newsletter benefit our region by being a government project, as opposed to someone’s passion project?

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Foreign Affairs

Point noted. In my view, when it comes to actual FA policymaking there is always a trust gap that needs to be bridged for newer members, and this is where incorporating them slowly into actually being involved in the “smoke-filled room” will require bridging that gap somehow. I would personally leave it to my own MoFA to consider how to implement incorporating ambassadors into decision-making processes, as this is also fairly context-dependent and depends heavily on how we are negotiating with allies and other partners.

You linked to FACom there as well, which is also a channel that I intend to revive in regular usage, along with the other relevant threads in the Private Halls as part of an effort to be more accountable to the Assembly. Frankly speaking, from my experience thus far it hasn’t been utilized in the way it was intended to by Henn, at least in the time I’ve been here, although I am keen on seeing how we can utilize it better in the upcoming term.

“Media” or Engagement?

Reasonable. My plan is more so that volunteers publish items on their own volition, with the Engagement ministry being an official platform for them to vet and disseminate decent-quality work.

From my observation, TSP is the only feeder not to have an active newsletter right now. Newsletters are a means of outreach and engagement with the region and beyond, and while I cannot claim that I don’t have a personal interest in being involved in the formation of a newsletter, I think this is space that TSP should not just abandon outright, whatever you view on the effectiveness of the Ministry of Media was back in 2022. My view is that government involvement, even if it’s just in promoting work by various volunteers, can help kick-start the process of forming privately-run media eventually, or a low-cost newsletter system promoted by the government in the long-term.

Once again, I have to state unequivocally that I have no intent on forming a bloated bureaucracy around a TSP government-run propaganda outlet, ever. If I think government involvement in forming a newsletter is unworkable under these constraints, I won’t force the formation of one.

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Howdy—I appreciate your thorough responses. I have a few thoughts, questions, and comments. I’ll probably come back and look at the original post again and ask some questions about the other parts of your agenda!

To clarify, ambassadors in this program would simply be updating a list of events as opposed to writing anything on foreign forums or providing long-form updates to the Assembly? If this initial program is a success, would we continue its development and make it more “complex?” (Complex doesn’t really seem like the right word, but the idea is making it a bigger program in general).

I understand the value of having an advisory committee helping out the Cabinet on gameside matters. I just don’t think we have to institutionalize it. We can make it some sort of de facto committee instead of a bigger thing. If we are to institutionalize the body, using the Local Council moniker would not be the smartest of ideas. I am not opposed to some sort of advisory body like this, I am just skeptical of institutionalizing it.

I understand that Drystar mentioned his desire to keep the RMB Moderators apolitical. But, you also mentioned that would extend to the Delegate as well. Article 6, Section 2 of the Charter reads:

Your advisory body is practically defined in this snippet of the Charter. The Delegate should work with the Cabinet to promote gameside activities. I feel like if anything, the Delegate should be the advisory committee.

I really like this idea and would be happy to help if you’re elected. I’m confident in this program having some success.

I do think that mentors should not only be members of the integration staff, but also well-respected and experienced members of our community who are up for the task. Would the initial welcoming stage be proportioned to the ministry staff while the actual mentorship be allotted to the “mentors?” I like that model better, but I’m open to exploring different ones.

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In fairness, why couldn’t the government sponsor a media project if it finds someone with the drive to lead it?

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Ambassadors again

I think the trial is to first try to keep it as simple as possible, and slowly scaling up based on what we think is a realistic aim for the current batch of Ambassadors as time progresses. My view is FA can be quite daunting to newer members, but more experienced members that are keen on helping out can contribute more if the MoFA sees fit.

More on “LC” and Delegate involvement

I’m not married to the idea of calling it an LC, I was more just using it as the closest reference point to an RMB-based institution that existed in TSP’s recent past. I do appreciate the conversations that we’ve had on this though over the last 24 hours on the forum and on the Discord, and I think it’ll help refine my plans for this body moving forward.

“Promoting gameside activities” is a tricky thing — I do agree that the Delegate has a role in communicating things as the public face of the forumside administration on the gameside, but ultimately there are things that are slightly trickier for a Delegate to do without overstepping on the executive’s responsibilities. I would prefer if the Delegate is not seen as excessively partisan.

More generally though, I do intend to keep a close working relationship with the Delegate, after all, constitutionally the Delegate is an advisor to the forum-side government under the Charter.

More on mentorship

I would be more than keen on exploring this idea, and I think this links up quite well with Pronoun’s “pathways to engagement” idea. My plan for Integration is to first get a “rapid response” mentorship system in place before expanding it with more ideas, such as reviving a version of Griff’s mentorship system.

I think there is some value to thinking of mentorship as a continuing process — once we involve people in certain projects, it is easier for us (those within the cabinet, other senior TSPers, etc.) to train them in the various aspects of running things in TSP. The issue is how we work on retaining members when they first join.

Thank you for your offer to help by the way! I have already talked to some people, and my view is Integration will be one of those ministries whereby we will need more staff to get things done, and to get things done well.

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Do we even have the numbers for committee members? I mean, we need a couple of folks who are active in the government and on the RMB. Besides the RMB moderators, those numbers are pretty thin. Or maybe not. I might not know what I’m talking about anymore.

I know I’m asking a lot of questions about this but I’m genuinely interested! I appreciate how your campaign is devoted to integration and advancement and this is a newer twist on tackling this longstanding issue.

On a separate note, what are your thoughts on the current Assembly discussion regarding ministers and if they should be appointed or elected? Should individual ministers be appointed by the Prime Minister? Or should they be elected in the same cycle as the PM, but on a separate campaign/ticket?

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How do you envision this idea meshing with the existing Delegate’s Advisory Commission?

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More on Gameside stuff

No, it’s a totally valid concern! Something that I think would be nice (but I’m not sure how realistic) would be to engage with long-time RMBers who are active but have not traditionally been active/engaged often with the forum-side government — I’ve certainly seen some over my 6 months here thus far.

I’m sure there might be some overlap. I’ll have to think about whether these two bodies may end up being linked in some way, so that the body could also advise the Delegate on their gameside efforts, and I’m sure that if elected I’ll have conversations with the Delegate on that. There are certainly complementarities.

On appointed versus elected ministers

I will post my thoughts on that on that thread when I have the time to reflect more carefully on the points that people have made. I will say that the way that I have chosen to draft my platform is also driven to no small extent by the fact that my cabinet will have to be appointed by myself if I’m elected, such that I need to spell out the kind of rough direction that I want each ministry to take.

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