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1) Why are you running for this position?
I realized, partially because of some comments made by Wintermoot, that I could make an actual contribution to the region rather than just a joke campaign. With the Great Schism (I prefer November Crisis) and Reconciliation, we have to consider how this will affect how we think about new members.


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 aim firstly to do what is required of me; I will regularly take part in Cabinet Meetings (this will be easy; I'm already quite active on the discord), I will ensure that new cit applicants are welcomed to the region and pointed in a direction I believe they'd be most interested in (I've been around awhile, so I know where things are), and I will encourage citizens to remain connected with the community and to engage in many areas of the region (I think being in multiple things in the region such as the forums, Discord, and RMB keeps things interesting and would help convince people to stick around).

I think the guide / flowchart of the government is a great idea that a few are working on already. If I find a way to, I plan to help with that. But until we have that, as one who has read all of Wintreath's laws more than once and grammar checked all of them, I can help new members make a general sense of it.

I'll also kind of stick around new members for a little while they get their bearings. This allows me time to teach them what they need to know and to make personal connections with new members, which is a big part of what Wintreath is.

So my measurable goal is: I will post a welcome message in every new cit app if elected. I plan to talk to them more than just that one message, of course, but this goal forces me not to forget anyone and to always make the first step toward welcoming new members. This just feels to me like a more concrete goal than the thaneship's description, "Ensure that Citizen applicants are properly welcomed to the region and given information of use to them." Making this officially a campaign promise will help motivate me to do my job if elected.



3) What qualifications or experience do you have in the area that you are running in?
Well my first experience in this area was when we still had the mentor program. HannahB was my mentor, and she helped me find my way around the forum and IRC chat. I can use this and my own knowledge about the region in order to do a similar thing for new members. I'll act like HannahB did in order to help new citizens.

Also, my Underhusen terms and Discord activity could be seen as qualifications because they show I know about a wide variety of parts of Wintreath.


4) How do you plan to have the time to fulfill the duties of the position until the next election in June?
I have been quite active on the Discord for about 2 months now and active enough on the forums to play a game of Werewolf and post this thread. I can definitely convert some of that time on Discord to time on the forums with new citizens and doing my other duties. So I plan on spending a little more time here rather than the Discord.


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 the Underhusen this term, but that's it. This allows me to focus on Wintreath.



Being late to make my campaign, I recognize there won't be a whole lot of time for additional questions. I will answer some questions from Laurentus's campaign with my own ideas:

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.

1.) I would definitely love to see Voyager's flow chart helping people; I think it's a cool idea that will help clarify the government's position in Wintreath. In addition to that, I will, as I said above, give at least an overview of the government's structure when acting as a "mentor" to new citizens. I will also be able to answer more in-depth questions about it too.

2.) I still thing acting as a "mentor" will be that other tool to assist with integration.



From Wintermoot's questions to Laurentus:
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?
I think one thing Wintreans should be versed in as a member is what we offer. They should know that we have government; a Discord chat that can be a place for chill conversation; a spam place; a big regional game place for werewolf, spyfall, and the like; an RP area; and an RMB chat. I'll try not to overwhelm them, but show them that Wintreath has a lot of very different things to offer.

I believe new citizens should know more about whatever interests them. If they like games like werewolf and spyfall, they should be able to learn how to play those and what they're like. If they like Roleplay, although I know little about that area, I can refer them to the Thane of Roleplay for more information. If they are interested in Discord, they should be shown around a little and feel welcome.


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?
This one I don't know much about. But hey. Maybe I can learn a thing or two about other regions from the new people we get. Then I may be able to give a better answer.


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?
This isn't as applicable to me, but I'll pretend it's a question about my period of inactivity. I did take a big break from this place. Real life made me busy, and I just never felt like I could come back and fit that time into my day. And now I'm writing this thing at 5:00AM, so I clearly have the time to spend here now . My activity, especially on the Discord, shows my ability to be active and do my duties as I have described them above.


If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, and I will try to respond quickly because of my late campaign. (and idk if I'm supposed to, but I'll @Doc to approve my candidacy before Moot closes the nomination period)

Hmm, you know, I keep my eyes open for new talent. I've kept my eye on you for a while now. I've been very impressed with your contributions to the UH, and along with Tau and Chanku at her best, I think you're one of the best speakers, to boot.

My only question is why you haven't shown an interest in the cabinet before. I believe this is actually a vital piece of the puzzle as to why people don't get involved much, so please answer honestly.

Because I think you'll both improve each other's campaign from being in competition, I approve this campaign despite its late status provided Laurentus does not actually withdraw (ohoho, Lau).
I make no promises about Moot, but here's hoping he'll be flexible in light of being the one who inspired you towards a Serious Campaign.

Ermagerd why do you hate me

In all seriousness, how active are you on the RMB, Mathy?

Hmm, you know, I keep my eyes open for new talent. I've kept my eye on you for a while now. I've been very impressed with your contributions to the UH, and along with Tau and Chanku at her best, I think you're one of the best speakers, to boot.

My only question is why you haven't shown an interest in the cabinet before. I believe this is actually a vital piece of the puzzle as to why people don't get involved much, so please answer honestly.

Thanks for the kind words, Lau. You seem very capable as well, so I hope this will be a competitive election .

Well firstly, I think this is only the third thane election I've seen. It wasn't terribly long after they first became elections that I became inactive.

There was certainly some element of not feeling I was good enough to hold a Cabinet position. While the UH gets made fun of for getting nothing done, my impression as that thaneships are more "serious business." While I'm very good at reaching deadlines and doing things on time in real life, I'm also a procrastinator. I was worried that, with an online responsibility with no tangible consequences for not doing my duties, I would let people down.

Another big part of it was that I've always thought there were people more fit to the thaneships I looked at. At first, there was just the ministry of culture and the Thane of Embassies. For Roleplay: I don't participate in the RP guild, for Werewolf: I've never run a game of Werewolf, and I believe those running for it had, for gaming: I had a PC that could barely play Minecraft, and the region seems to be more about PC games, and for the LGBTQ thane: I'm not any of those letters . I could barely even be an Ambassador, so Thane of Embassies was out.

From one of the first Thane Elections:

I'm going to decline the nomination for Thane of Gaming. I know I could do the duties of that position, and I have some gaming experience, but I don't feel I'm a better candidate than Gatto. I'm not even a huge pc gamer, which is what most of this region is.

I don't know why I didn't show interest in Thane of Integration before. Maybe I was discouraged by how everyone else seemed so invested in their respective areas, yet I was probably lapsing in activity in the UH around then. So maybe I was just afraid of letting people down.

I hope that the Cabinet meetings would keep me in check this term because I could be called out there if I didn't do stuff.

In all seriousness, how active are you on the RMB, Mathy?

Not at all. Until yesterday, I didn't know it has become more civilized and non-toxic since last time I was here. But that just means I need to learn more about what that section of the community is up to.

I won't be able to add on to this tonight, but feel free to ask any more questions you may have in the meantime.

I've done some thinking about my campaign platform, and I've got some things to say that I don't believe I emphasized enough earlier:

I believe the biggest thing I bring to the table is a fresh perspective. Katie, Pengu, and Doc, to name a few, are amazing long-time members of Wintreath that I'm glad are in the Cabinet; however, it is important that we continually consider new ideas so that our community can grow. Kiwi_Kebab and Daw were both good examples of candidates who wanted to bring enthusiasm and fresh ideas to their thaneship.

Laurentus, while certainly a great member of the community who would do great as thane, has expressed to me multiple times his opinion that the Cabinet needs new ideas. Especially with the recent Reconciliation (or whatever we want to call it) and the Truth Commission's upcoming report, we will need to change some things as a region. Up until this record-breaking election, there haven't been many competitive thane elections. It's usually the same few people, while others (including me) view themselves as worse candidates and don't run. This results in lots of thanes elected by default and only a few votes for the thaneships with two candidates. While it's good to have such strong members of the community in the Cabinet, I imagine input from another perspective would prove helpful.

I've also been complimented on my ability to stay level-headed and rational, even in very emotional arguments. Hopefully those arguments are over, but I've heard the Truth Commission's results will likely come out during this thaneship. It will have controversial things to say. As someone who wasn't involved in the November crisis or the forum destruction threat, I aim to give an unbiased opinion on the changes the Truth Commission sees fit. I just want to do what's best for the region going forward. The Commission's results, whatever they are, will have an effect on Integration.


A quick note on activity: In my terms in the UH, I have found that terms where I start out active and full of ideas, I can keep that activity going through the term. Terms where I start out inactive and devoid of ideas, I tend to stay inactive. If elected thane, I will have plenty of time to start active due to school being canceled for a couple of weeks for the virus.


I'm still open to questions and criticism