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Hello all. I’m Todd McCloud. I’ve been in TEP since 2008 and have served as a delegate to this region several times. My WA nation has remained in TEP since The Empire took root here. I’ve served the region when it has asked me to do so, or when I felt I had the capabilities to make it better in some capacity, be it in the Conclave, Magisterium, or Executive. We’ve had our good times. If I can compile a list of what made those good times great, I would, but there are so many external factors and chemistries that shape a region - it’s really hard to duplicate past respect in that regard. However, one can certainly catalyze a good time and foster it, and that’s what I plan to do. I say plan because well, I want to be careful with what I promise. At the end of my term I want all of us to be able to revisit this thread and truly analyze where I was able to deliver. To be frank, I’ve seen delegacies work and delegacies stumble. I think we have the team and the tools to make this a great term.
To be fair, we’ve also had our hard times. They were pretty tough to endure, because we as a region are very close to one another. I stood by the region during those hard times and did what I could to lessen the sting, defend it when necessary, and keep folks together. I don’t run from challenges - I face them and push back. It is my opinion that a delegate absolutely must have that mindset. A delegate must be compassionate, creative, and motivating, but a delegate must also be tough, courageous, and loyal.
I’ve seen good nations come and good nations go. Luckily, we have a great crowd here now. I’m going to tell you how I think we can best work together as we get through the holidays and emerge in 2016 as a region of greatness.
On Government
I really do believe our system of government is a good one - it’s remained more or less the same since 2009 and that’s accredit to the people who currently serve and have served in its capacity. But you and I both notice that activity levels have been a bit low. Though, in my opinion, there is plenty to do. I believe this new Regional Officers needs to be included in an amendment. As a vizier, I have the ability to boot a troublesome nation from our region, but I do not have the powers granted to me by our government, for instance. That power is reserved for the delegate as it states in our Concordat. Furthermore, what powers should a Regional Officer (I believe they should be the Viziers) have? We need to look into that and outline it as it fits into our Concordat. What about other stuff? Alright, I’ll go ahead and address an elephant in the room, what about http://theeastpacific.com/single/?p=8052077&t=5226129? Do we need a policy on forum destroyers becoming citizens? Administration has discussed the issue several times, but was unable to reach a consensus. But we deal with forum-side security and generally ensure the person is who they say they are. Should we develop a policy on how to deal with those who compromise other regional forums? I think it’s more case-by-case than a cut-and-dry kind of policy, but it would certainly help us to have a policy and keep us streamlined.
What about Executive? Conclave? They’re important too. I like Raven as a Minister of Foreign Affairs, to be honest. But we need help with our Media Office, Immigration, and Culture. I’ll be addressing those in the next section! As for the EPSA and EPPS, I don’t know how effective the EPPS is or could be at this point. The EPSA is indeed very important to folks here, and I intend to keep it that way. I like how we’ve fought over the years to keep it acting on the whims and philosophies of the region instead of just a “raider” group or a “defender” group. That’s important to me. I want to see this group used when the ends justify the means.
Conclave, in my opinion, should maintain the course but should watch us as we legislate and I sign legislative bills into law. I want to ensure that my beliefs or the desires of the Magisterium always fall in line with the Concordat.
On Culture
I told you I’d address the other Executive offices here, didn’t I? I’m going to work rather closely with these offices to give us some fire that we’ve been missing for a while. For one, I want to get us a newspaper back. There’s plenty to talk about in TEP these days. I think newspapers do one of two things. First, they announce to the NSverse where we are and how active we are, which is attractive to those looking for a new home. Second, they promote comradely and get us closer in the region. If Bach wants to serve up that department again, I would honestly love to have him aboard. As for Immigration, I want us to utilize our regional TG system and pull folks back from the RMB and the gameside of things over to the forum and government side of things. Starting day one of my delegacy, all Viziers will serve concurrently as Ministers of Immigration. They’ll have the ability to send out region-wide TG’s. We’re going to hold regular meetings, brainstorm, and send out telegrams to our nations in an attempt to get us stronger connectivity with the masses in TEP.
Culture. I’m going to shy away from promoting an officer of Culture and Education at first, because I want us to have a plan going forward on this. Let’s think about this for a moment. We know the Holidays are coming. We know that there’s usually a big lull in activity between mid-December to mid-January. We also know there has been an NS World Fair typically held around that time as well. I can tell you an NS World Fair is in the works and will probably be held sometime during the next delegate term. Those are major issues to deal with. But we can still make this about TEP. We need an event that pulls people in. In the past, we had very successful debate contests, complete with judges, trophies, and all around good feelings. Topics were NS-themed and real-world themed, but folks typically had a good time with it and it attracted us a lot of attention. So, I would like us to host another contest, especially considering NS is full of self-proclaimed good debaters. I’ll address roleplay in the next section, but I’d like us to connect with that as well. In addition, let’s have some fun holiday activities that pull us together. I do in fact like what BGP did during his tenure of MoCE, because sometimes the little events are what pulls us together the best. Things like holiday contests, Jeopardy-like tournaments, etc. That way we prevent drama from festering and keep NS fun.
Some of those events I’d like to host on the RMB to better connect us with the masses in the region. I understand the importance of Skype, but I also understand it represents a very small portion of our populace, even our citizenship. I’d like for us to utilize Skype as a tool, in addition to IRC and the RMB. It’s like this: Skype is typically allocated to a small base of our citizens. IRC reaches out to some citizens and some folks from other regions. RMB reaches out to our entire region and passer-bys. Folks have asked me to pull in those RP’ers on the RMB, and I’ve reached out to them. But they still remain “at an arm’s length” because they don’t quite know the region all that well. The best way we can reach out to them and others like them would be to host events on the RMB, foster their creativity with some good themes or heck even join in on their roleplays and see what we can do for them.
As for the World Factbook Entry, you can bet I’ll keep it both informative and creative. I’d also like to have a “design a WFE contest” that will happen probably after the Holidays. Regional polls will be numerous and will rely on the region. Our regional flag will return and we’re going to be TEP-centered. We can have themes, the likes, but we’re going to be TEP-centered.
On Roleplay
I and others have worked hard to get roleplay up to speed. In the hottest months of summer, we had issues with our roleplay system in that it was disorganized, outdated, and heck many of the “helpful” links followed pages that have recently been deleted, such as the old NSwiki. So, we asked around and asked on the forums where we should go in fixing roleplay. Some ideas were put forth and we moved on them. I can say we’re doing much better in roleplay, but as with anything, it could be better.
Historically, we’ve been a region that has been known for roleplaying. That doesn’t mean we will always be known for roleplaying, but I want to see it succeed, mostly because it takes a lot of strain and pressure off of dealing with the drama that is NS gameplay and turns it into something that’s fun, creative, and if it works out right, inspiring. As I said earlier, I want us to connect with other regions. Perhaps it’s time for us to connect with other roleplaying regions and do some mutual roleplays that enrich both us and them. One more thing. The map is our property and will be updated regularly. Anyone who cares to fight me on that will lose that debate.
In Conclusion
With all those points considered, I hope I can count on your vote. I’d like to open the floor for any questions, comments, or critiques, and will be available to answer with the best of my abilities.