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Stale Platitudes? or New blood for the good of all?

Hey y'all, I'm Katie, known better on the gameside as Rikuchar! What would you choose after nearly 3 years of same-old same-old? As we enter what some consider to be a Wintrean Renaissance, new minds are necessary to keep us afloat. While some sat by the sidelines as the cabinet discussed reforms to our World Assembly system, I stood at the forefront fighting for all of our citizens. When some members of our community were arguing to keep non-citizen RMB-goers from having a voice in the system, who stood up for them? It was I, Katie, that insisted we finally implement a bridge between our forumside government and our active, vibrant gameside community.

I rose from the very bottom in this region. In the summer of 2018 I was merely an ambassador to Wintreath from another region, then suddenly BAM! I was a member of the Underhusen; BAM! Then I was a thane under the Foreign Affairs ministry; BAM! Then I was Jarl of Foreign Affairs. The quintessential success story for a fresh member of the region is one of involvement, and when new members can't get involved because it's out of their sight, that's a big problem.

This is why for you, friends and family, and with the help of my fellow cabinet members, I want to introduce sweeping reforms to how we interact with our region's Delegacy. No longer will it be a position to sit and wait for legislation, or to collect endorsements for no obvious purpose. Instead, I want to continue our system of discussing World Assembly proposals on our RMB.
Soon, if my reforms succeed, we will elect our WA Delegate on the gameside, where our region's World Assembly members will come together to choose who they think will best represent them: not some forum fat cat or discord dead wood, but instead a familiar face on the RMB! A more involved gameside means more potential for members to move up in the ranks, creating more variety in our government and civil services.
Additionally, Delegate endorsement will now be required among all WA members. We will be a power to be reckoned with among the mid-sized regions of NS, and we could potentially even start a delegate voting bloc if we play our cards right! This will be a boon for our FA department, allowing us to gain more leverage in diplomatic discussions and potentially gain rapport interregionally. Now, I know that may not sound interesting to many of our isolationist members, but as FA Jarl and more importantly a citizen of this region, it's important to me that Wintreath stands out positively and attracts new members willing to participate in Wintrean values and customs.
Of course, I plan to continue our existing good practices in the WA office: regular WA Chats on the RMB, WA votes aligned to public opinion, and fun regional polls!
My past experience in both Wintreath and NationStates at large is invaluable. I have gained plenty of Foreign Affairs experience in my year-long tenure as Thane of Embassies. I established or assisted in the establishment of 13 embassies, almost a quarter of all embassies ever established with Wintreath. I also took part in more comprehensive efforts to revive relations with regions such as The East Pacific.
This ties in to the WA Delegacy, as there will be gameplay knowledge that I must have. I was part of NS gameplay (whether R&D or just plain Feeder/Sinkeristic mindset) for years, and I was acutely aware of what was happening and what SC resolutions meant what. I am committed to returning to that mindset, and with the help of Chanku, our gameplay advisor, no more will be the era of uninformed Security Council votes!
I also have some amount of direct World Assembly experience, serving as Cynosure's Councillor of World Assembly Affairs for about 10 months, where I tied each World Assembly legislation into Cynosure's rich roleplay atmosphere through my bi-monthly Almanac of the Nexus. I have also almost always had a WA nation that votes on legislation, and I always make sure to look critically at each one to ensure that I know its effects. Somewhere I can improve by being Thane of World Assembly Affairs is seeing what stats are affected by which aspect of the bill.
I also have quite a bit of experience with polling and regional interaction, seeing as it falls under our Regional Affairs department. Firstly, I was the Outreach Officer in the Rejected Realms for almost 6 months, and in that time I learned how to create fun polls and also maintained our regional guides. Secondly, I was Thane of Integration here in Wintreath, and during that period I learned how to properly interact with the populace.
To summarize, these are, should I be elected, my goals for this term:
1) To nurture creativity in the WA field, such as through writing and proposing legislation (something I also want to start encouraging people to think about) or discussion of current legislation.

2) To continue to polling our citizens for various things, whether it be about something serious or something funny!

3) To increase WA involvement among our existing nations with the ultimate goal of increasing both the delegate endorsement count and inter-national endorsement counts (through methods like endotarting). The first thing that comes to mind regarding this is just exposure (discussing WA resolutions in the RMB and hoping people will join it out of curiosity.)

4) To remain open, always, to new suggestions and ideas. That's what it's all about here in the government of Wintreath, but now that we're trying to get more RMB involvement specifically, we're essentially entering a part of Wintreath that, regrettably, we've neglected for some time, and so to us it's new and uncharted. All suggestions help!

Oh Mootles, if you Insist! ^^

1) Why are you running for this position?
I'm running for this position because I want to bring a new aspect to our culture while increasing our regional involvement and building our image abroad. It is a multi-faceted platform that spans all 3 of our ministries.

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 want to introduce comprehensive WA reform to our region, including who is eligible to vote in our WA elections and whether not nations are required to endorse the delegate. Hopefully that will increase WA involvement and, eventually, involvement overall.

3) What qualifications or experience do you have in the area that you are running in?
I have WA experience from Cynosure, as well as IA and public polling experience from TRR and a couple other regions.

4) How do you plan to have the time to fulfill the duties of the position until the next election in March?
I'm taking a break from school (for unrelated reasons). Sure I'll have a full time job but it's actually a tiny business that's super lax, so I can do a lot of this on the job.

5) Are you currently a part of any other NationStates regional or organizational government? If so, please include those regions and positions.
Linked is my Conflict of Interest dispatch, which I started way back at the start of my NS career in late 2015.

Hey Katie, you look like you're running a really extensive campaign with some great stuff in it that I'd like to get into later!

But for now I'd like to invite you to read the portions of your campaign about BSR and reflect on whether you differentiated yourself from him in a way that is kind and in the spirit of our principles as a region. You have a perfect right to believe that what you say is justified, but nonetheless I wanted to ask you to look at it again.

Hey Katie, you look like you're running a really extensive campaign with some great stuff in it that I'd like to get into later!

But for now I'd like to invite you to read the portions of your campaign about BSR and reflect on whether you differentiated yourself from him in a way that is kind and in the spirit of our principles as a region. You have a perfect right to believe that what you say is justified, but nonetheless I wanted to ask you to look at it again.

Dunno what you're talking about. I made no mention of BSR in my campaign.   

Dunno what you're talking about. I made no mention of BSR in my campaign.   

My mistake.

I like all of your points! You seem motivated and determined, and I'm sure you'll do well in any position you're placed. Very detailed post

but Katie, I'm an isolationist, I can't let you do things that make us less isolationist, I definitely have to reject your campaign

No, speaking seriously, strong campaign. I don't personally necessarily approve of parts of the message (WINTREATH MUST AND WILL STAND ALONE), but in my capacity as RA Jarl, I approve of your candidacy.

but Katie, I'm an isolationist, I can't let you do things that make us less isolationist, I definitely have to reject your campaign

No, speaking seriously, strong campaign. I don't personally necessarily approve of parts of the message (WINTREATH MUST AND WILL STAND ALONE), but in my capacity as RA Jarl, I approve of your candidacy.

Well tbf our disagreement on Wintrean matters comes less from anything I can fix and more from fundamental differences in our NS philosophy

Also burn the UH, eat the rich, Doccoup 2078

Also burn the UH, eat the rich, Doccoup 2078

ayyyy you know my platform
gotta reinstall the monarchy after the Chankoup of 2037, may the forces of counterrevolution forever succeed

Great progressive ideas, I've never heard anyone mention this regarding the WA so I hope you're able to get it done. 

Greetings, and welcome to the campaign! As usual, I have questions:

1) You mention that under your proposal, endorsing the delegate will be a requirement of all WA members. How would you enforce such a rule?

2) You admit that some of your proposals, particularly the proposal to create a WA voting bloc, doesn't set well with those who fear that it would drag us too much into the affairs of other regions. People who might feel that our more traditional relative isolationism is something that's tried and true. How would you alleviate those fears if this is something that became a thing?

3) Aren't those "forum fat cat" and "Discord dead wood"s generally the ones who vote in elections like these?

Greetings, and welcome to the campaign! As usual, I have questions:

1) You mention that under your proposal, endorsing the delegate will be a requirement of all WA members. How would you enforce such a rule?

2) You admit that some of your proposals, particularly the proposal to create a WA voting bloc, doesn't set well with those who fear that it would drag us too much into the affairs of other regions. People who might feel that our more traditional relative isolationism is something that's tried and true. How would you alleviate those fears if this is something that became a thing?

3) Aren't those "forum fat cat" and "Discord dead wood"s generally the ones who vote in elections like these?

Thanks so much! These are all fantastic!

To answer your first question, there wouldn't necessarily be an actual requirement. It's all a matter of how you word it. In my college, we were "required" to attend our semesterly residence hall floor meeting. However, after a while, I realized there were literally no consequences to staying home, and it was just a tactic to get more people to come. Now, if that seems a bit sleazy it's fine: there are other alternatives to this. For example, when new nations join, we could have a weekly welcome message reminding them to join the WA and endorse our delegate. The Delegate endorsement "requirement" was merely a suggestion, not a set in stone plan.

Secondly, it's not going to be easy to alleviate those fears. However, to those people, I say I personally don't believe "dragging ourselves into the affairs of other regions" is a bad thing as long as we steer clear of their internal drama. Knowing about how the WA votes or elections or cultural events of other regions are playing out is, in my eyes, a huge benefit for FA and perhaps even engagement in the region.

Thirdly, yes they are those who are voting but I have to drive home that I'm RMB-oriented, so playing a bit of the "RMB purist" character can't hurt

Stale Platitudes? or New blood for the good of all?

Hey y'all, I'm Katie, known better on the gameside as Rikuchar! What would you choose after nearly 3 years of same-old same-old? As we enter what some consider to be a Wintrean Renaissance, new minds are necessary to keep us afloat. While some sat by the sidelines as the cabinet discussed reforms to our World Assembly system, I stood at the forefront fighting for all of our citizens. When some members of our community were arguing to keep non-citizen RMB-goers from having a voice in the system, who stood up for them? It was I, Katie, that insisted we finally implement a bridge between our forumside government and our active, vibrant gameside community.

I rose from the very bottom in this region. In the summer of 2018 I was merely an ambassador to Wintreath from another region, then suddenly BAM! I was a member of the Underhusen; BAM! Then I was a thane under the Foreign Affairs ministry; BAM! Then I was Jarl of Foreign Affairs. The quintessential success story for a fresh member of the region is one of involvement, and when new members can't get involved because it's out of their sight, that's a big problem.

This is why for you, friends and family, and with the help of my fellow cabinet members, I want to introduce sweeping reforms to how we interact with our region's Delegacy. No longer will it be a position to sit and wait for legislation, or to collect endorsements for no obvious purpose. Instead, I want to continue our system of discussing World Assembly proposals on our RMB.
Soon, if my reforms succeed, we will elect our WA Delegate on the gameside, where our region's World Assembly members will come together to choose who they think will best represent them: not some forum fat cat or discord dead wood, but instead a familiar face on the RMB! A more involved gameside means more potential for members to move up in the ranks, creating more variety in our government and civil services.
Additionally, Delegate endorsement will now be required among all WA members. We will be a power to be reckoned with among the mid-sized regions of NS, and we could potentially even start a delegate voting bloc if we play our cards right! This will be a boon for our FA department, allowing us to gain more leverage in diplomatic discussions and potentially gain rapport interregionally. Now, I know that may not sound interesting to many of our isolationist members, but as FA Jarl and more importantly a citizen of this region, it's important to me that Wintreath stands out positively and attracts new members willing to participate in Wintrean values and customs.
Of course, I plan to continue our existing good practices in the WA office: regular WA Chats on the RMB, WA votes aligned to public opinion, and fun regional polls!
My past experience in both Wintreath and NationStates at large is invaluable. I have gained plenty of Foreign Affairs experience in my year-long tenure as Thane of Embassies. I established or assisted in the establishment of 13 embassies, almost a quarter of all embassies ever established with Wintreath. I also took part in more comprehensive efforts to revive relations with regions such as The East Pacific.
This ties in to the WA Delegacy, as there will be gameplay knowledge that I must have. I was part of NS gameplay (whether R&D or just plain Feeder/Sinkeristic mindset) for years, and I was acutely aware of what was happening and what SC resolutions meant what. I am committed to returning to that mindset, and with the help of Chanku, our gameplay advisor, no more will be the era of uninformed Security Council votes!
I also have some amount of direct World Assembly experience, serving as Cynosure's Councillor of World Assembly Affairs for about 10 months, where I tied each World Assembly legislation into Cynosure's rich roleplay atmosphere through my bi-monthly Almanac of the Nexus. I have also almost always had a WA nation that votes on legislation, and I always make sure to look critically at each one to ensure that I know its effects. Somewhere I can improve by being Thane of World Assembly Affairs is seeing what stats are affected by which aspect of the bill.
I also have quite a bit of experience with polling and regional interaction, seeing as it falls under our Regional Affairs department. Firstly, I was the Outreach Officer in the Rejected Realms for almost 6 months, and in that time I learned how to create fun polls and also maintained our regional guides. Secondly, I was Thane of Integration here in Wintreath, and during that period I learned how to properly interact with the populace.
To summarize, these are, should I be elected, my goals for this term:
1) To nurture creativity in the WA field, such as through writing and proposing legislation (something I also want to start encouraging people to think about) or discussion of current legislation.

2) To continue to polling our citizens for various things, whether it be about something serious or something funny!

3) To increase WA involvement among our existing nations with the ultimate goal of increasing both the delegate endorsement count and inter-national endorsement counts (through methods like endotarting). The first thing that comes to mind regarding this is just exposure (discussing WA resolutions in the RMB and hoping people will join it out of curiosity.)

4) To remain open, always, to new suggestions and ideas. That's what it's all about here in the government of Wintreath, but now that we're trying to get more RMB involvement specifically, we're essentially entering a part of Wintreath that, regrettably, we've neglected for some time, and so to us it's new and uncharted. All suggestions help!

Oh Mootles, if you Insist! ^^

1) Why are you running for this position?
I'm running for this position because I want to bring a new aspect to our culture while increasing our regional involvement and building our image abroad. It is a multi-faceted platform that spans all 3 of our ministries.

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 want to introduce comprehensive WA reform to our region, including who is eligible to vote in our WA elections and whether not nations are required to endorse the delegate. Hopefully that will increase WA involvement and, eventually, involvement overall.

3) What qualifications or experience do you have in the area that you are running in?
I have WA experience from Cynosure, as well as IA and public polling experience from TRR and a couple other regions.

4) How do you plan to have the time to fulfill the duties of the position until the next election in March?
I'm taking a break from school (for unrelated reasons). Sure I'll have a full time job but it's actually a tiny business that's super lax, so I can do a lot of this on the job.

5) Are you currently a part of any other NationStates regional or organizational government? If so, please include those regions and positions.
Linked is my Conflict of Interest dispatch, which I started way back at the start of my NS career in late 2015.

we vote about this right? If so itll be really hard between emoticonius [or something like that] and you because i like WA involvement and the rmb stuff but i also like what he was offering. I think ima stick with this.

we vote about this right? If so itll be really hard between emoticonius [or something like that] and you because i like WA involvement and the rmb stuff but i also like what he was offering. I think ima stick with this.

You do indeed! Although emoticonius is running for a different position, so you don't have to worry about that ^^

Thanks so much! These are all fantastic!

To answer your first question, there wouldn't necessarily be an actual requirement. It's all a matter of how you word it. In my college, we were "required" to attend our semesterly residence hall floor meeting. However, after a while, I realized there were literally no consequences to staying home, and it was just a tactic to get more people to come. Now, if that seems a bit sleazy it's fine: there are other alternatives to this. For example, when new nations join, we could have a weekly welcome message reminding them to join the WA and endorse our delegate. The Delegate endorsement "requirement" was merely a suggestion, not a set in stone plan.

Secondly, it's not going to be easy to alleviate those fears. However, to those people, I say I personally don't believe "dragging ourselves into the affairs of other regions" is a bad thing as long as we steer clear of their internal drama. Knowing about how the WA votes or elections or cultural events of other regions are playing out is, in my eyes, a huge benefit for FA and perhaps even engagement in the region.

Thirdly, yes they are those who are voting but I have to drive home that I'm RMB-oriented, so playing a bit of the "RMB purist" character can't hurt

Thanks for replying back! Hopefully those forum and Discord people won't hold it against you.

Out of curiosity, have you given any more thought to what regions you would be interested in establishing such a thing with?

Thanks for replying back! Hopefully those forum and Discord people won't hold it against you.

Out of curiosity, have you given any more thought to what regions you would be interested in establishing such a thing with?

Haha hopefully not!

I think the best regions to establish this with will vary over time but right now we could consider India, Sonindia, Alvaria, or our other active embassy regions. It's best to start with who we're closest with, that way coordination will be a bit easier. Even if they don't have a big WA program, we can still make it work.

However, as I said, I will be researching our embassies for ones with big WA programs or high WA turnout.