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1) Why are you running for this position?

I've become heavily invested in helping our region move forward from the Great Schism, and believe a big part in that has to do with integration.

2) What do you aim to accomplish as thane? As part of this, you must include at least one thing that you promise to do beyond the minimum listed duties of the position during your term. It should be measurable, so that it's black and white whether you fulfilled this mandate at the end of the term if you are elected.

I plan to write a detailed guide on the government of Wintreath, as well as the function of each part of the government, and how this is different from the ops and administration.

I also want to continue to find new ways to make reporting things to the government and the Ops easier, and clearly delineate what gets reported where, how and why.

2a) If you are an incumbent running for re-election, did you fulfill your mandate from the September election? If not, why didn't you?

I was the Werewolf Thane. I brainstormed a few quality of life improvements, but don't have the coding knowledge necessary to implement them, and Wintermoot became understandably busy.

3) What qualifications or experience do you have in the area that you are running in?

I'll say it straight: not much. I did create this position back in the day, though.

4) How do you plan to have the time to fulfill the duties of the position until the next election in March?

By doing what I've been doing and letting go of distractions such as Werewolf and WA reform. Those are being handled by very competent individuals in the form of Pengu, BraveSirRobin and Katie, respectively.

5) Are you currently a part of any other NationStates regional or organizational government? If so, please include those regions and positions.

I'm part of another region now, but not part of the government of said region.

Good stuff!

You mention wanting to create a guide to Wintreath. One of our other citizens, @Voyager, started doing the same, but has become a bit busy irl and doesn't expect to continue until after March. Will you accept the help or recruit the help of your fellow citizens in this endeavor, and will you continue in Voyager's footsteps or start from scratch?

Additionally, what other ideas (whether inside or outside the IA ministry) do you think might assist with integration as well? Surely a guide to Wintreath, although helpful, won't solve all of our problems.

Good stuff!

You mention wanting to create a guide to Wintreath. One of our other citizens, @Voyager, started doing the same, but has become a bit busy irl and doesn't expect to continue until after March. Will you accept the help or recruit the help of your fellow citizens in this endeavor, and will you continue in Voyager's footsteps or start from scratch?

Additionally, what other ideas (whether inside or outside the IA ministry) do you think might assist with integration as well? Surely a guide to Wintreath, although helpful, won't solve all of our problems.

Thanks for the questions, Katie.

I definitely won't be reinventing the wheel, I will make use of any and all resources anyone has already started, and yes, with such a complex problem, I will be liaising with everyone who wants to help out.

Honestly, this might not the be answer anyone reading this hopes to see, but I am not sure of all the challenges that faces integration in this region. This is something close to my heart now that the government, citizenry and commission are working together to get the bottom of what led to the Great Schism, and a big part of what they've identified is uncertainty about what exactly the role of different government officials are, and how this relates to the ops and administration. I'm not sure easy solutions exist, and as I don't know about everything that led to such dire straits to begin with, I expect the first month of my tenure will be spent doing what I've already been doing for the past week or so: closely follow the commission's investigation and continue to poke and prod people for their own opinions on how things went so terribly wrong.

I realise that makes this a terrible campaign, because I don't have any answers. I have more questions than anything else. I intend to ask them all, though.

I realise that makes this a terrible campaign, because I don't have any answers. I have more questions than anything else. I intend to ask them all, though.

To be honest, that's better than not doing anything at all or not having anyone at all. I think you'll do great as long as you remain committed to finding the answers

Well, while I definitely think there should be more of an RMB-side bent to this campaign, I think your campaign  is also an excellent series of steps towards mending bridges after the...sigh...'Great Schism', and staving off similar occurrences in the future.
I approve your campaign as RA Jarl.

Greetings! I have to admit, your campaign is so solid I had a hard time coming up with questions after Katie asked hers, but nonetheless...

1) There are so many aspects and platforms and things we're doing and parts of Wintreath that I'm sure it can be hard for new people to understand what's going on. Besides the government/op division aspect, what one thing do you think all Wintreans should be versed in once they become a member of the region? Once they become a Citizen?

2) As I've pointed out a few times, Wintreath's biggest success stories are usually people who originally came from other regions, not so much people who start here. Do you have any thoughts on why that may be besides a lack of integration in general? Do you think there's specific things they're doing that we're not?

3) You have been deeply involved in what's going on in the community for quite some time now, and you've also said that you easily burn out after a few months. Do you think that serving in this role will burn you out after all you've already been involved with and been through?

Greetings! I have to admit, your campaign is so solid I had a hard time coming up with questions after Katie asked hers, but nonetheless...

1) There are so many aspects and platforms and things we're doing and parts of Wintreath that I'm sure it can be hard for new people to understand what's going on. Besides the government/op division aspect, what one thing do you think all Wintreans should be versed in once they become a member of the region? Once they become a Citizen?

2) As I've pointed out a few times, Wintreath's biggest success stories are usually people who originally came from other regions, not so much people who start here. Do you have any thoughts on why that may be besides a lack of integration in general? Do you think there's specific things they're doing that we're not?

3) You have been deeply involved in what's going on in the community for quite some time now, and you've also said that you easily burn out after a few months. Do you think that serving in this role will burn you out after all you've already been involved with and been through?

1. Oh, things like a forum guide (I can't believe I'm going to tell people RTFM), where to find the laws and other rules that guide the community, our regional culture (as best that can be defined), what we most value from our community and its members, etc etc. There's a lot.

2. This one is tricky. When I think back to my own NS history, I do recall Aura Hyperia and its various knowledge sources being incredibly useful. They taught me things like how the R/D meta game worked, who the major players were, how it all tied into the WA, and how and why forums and IRC were so essential for the functioning of the region's operations. Indirectly, I think they taught me a method of thinking, not just mere knowledge. If you take a look at people who consistently get things done around here, it is people who all got exposed to R/D in some way.

I don't think it's as simple as just that, mind you. Experience is also a great teacher, and odds are that those who came here from other regions were also exposed to many other regions and their ways of doing things before they came here. This exposure to so many different communities allows us not to reinvent the wheel constantly. This is especially true of regions that have extensive FA departments and regions that are very active in R/D, through the inherent alliances that sprout from that meta game.

And the final factor I can think of right off the bat is that if they came here from smaller regions, they were probably forced into governance in some way or another just because those regions needed everyone to do a bit of everything just to function. If they came from bigger regions where the political landscape is a lot more politicky and competitive, then there was probably constant change in the mad scramble for power, giving a lot more people a chance to show what they're made of. Our system is stable, sure, but it also leads to some people (like you, Wintermoot, and myself to an extent) to becoming central to the region's functioning. This is great for our own development, but it all crumbles when we suddenly need to hand the reins over to successors, unless those successors themselves came from other regions. This is why I've personally been pushing Tau to get involved in a lot more than I suspect he's ever been completely comfortable with.

So if you're asking for a solution: encourage the noobs to take part in more than just this region, so they may gain the exposure we got. I am not particularly fond of making our system more politicky and unstable just to accomplish that. Back in the day it was my hope that guilds might lead to more avenues for people to get involved, but we saw how that turned out.

EDIT: I believe there may actually be a few parallels between us and a big corporation. It is generally believed that big companies don't produce innovation and train talent, they acquire it from smaller companies. More info can be found here. (This is really more of an interesting aside).

3. I won't lie, it might. I've been feeling the wear for a few months now. That said, I plan on taking a long break from all governmental affairs once I'm done with this term. I just wouldn't feel happy leaving the region in such a precarious situation as it is right now. I wouldn't be able to rest.

Thanks for the responses, especially the thoughtful response on #2.

It was a pleasure, especially as I could finally give a more concrete response.

Well, that is certainly unexpected. 

If anyone has anything else to ask, feel free. I will probably not vote in the runoff.

I have a question. You indicated earlier in the election that you wanted Mathyland to win, going so far as to say that you didn't withdraw in his favour because Doc made your not withdrawing a condition for approving his campaign. Now we know the vote was equally split and we're trying this again. Do you still feel this way or has something changed your mind?

No, I still feel that way. I want Mathy to win. I also aim to make his road there as difficult as possible, however. My competitiveness will not allow for anything else. 

Thank you for your thoughts there...they were helpful.