Calvin Coolidge Commended as the First Hero of Valhalla
Heroes of Valhalla Program Finds Success with its First Resolution
Written by @Sincluda
Heroes of Valhalla, a joint program between Europeia, The North Pacific, and Balder, recently bore its first fruit in the form of SCR#390, "Commend Calvin Coolidge". The program was announced on October 28, 2021 with the goal of commending accomplished members of the involved regions in the World Assembly Security Council. The Venerable Calvin Coolidge is the first to be commended by the program, something recently celebrated in a radio show Monday. Inishmaan (also known as Boston Castle or Hulldom), Minister of World Assembly Affairs in The North Pacific, is proud of the success. “Whether he knows it or not, Calvin is one of the people I look up to immensely in Euro. He’s a Jack-of-all-Trades and someone whose commitment to a cool head and über competence is the stuff of my dreams,” he says. “While it perhaps took me a minute to be able to see exactly what Calvin’s contributions to Euro were, once I grasped them, I knew he was someone who was deserving of the highest honor the game could bestow him. I am proud to have made that happen.” Greater Cesnica, former Minister of World Assembly Affairs for Europeia, is also happy to see Calvin commended, telling the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), “I think it is fantastic. Not only am I personally proud as a Europeian, but I'm also quite pleased that this creation and project of ours has now been proven to work.”
Although it began in late October, Heroes of Valhalla had been conceived earlier by Inishmaan. The idea originated from two similar programs that both Europeia and The North Pacific had attempted in the past, with the new element of interregional collaboration now a key component. He took this idea to Greater Cesnica, Europeia’s Minister of World Assembly Affairs at the time. Inishmaan told the EBC in an interview, “It was something that was enthusiastically received as I recall at the time by at least [Greater Cesnica] and something I was excited about as a means of fostering further cooperation between my Ministry and Europeia’s Ministry, taking an already strong relationship to the next level.” Greater Cesnica also noted the merit of this proposal, saying, “Seeing the obvious benefits not just for The North Pacific but also for Europeia, and later Balder, I decided to take him up on his offer.”
Following the conception of the program, creation of a list of potential nominees, and eventual public announcement, Heroes of Valhalla was fully underway. Members of Europeia, The North Pacific, and Balder were given the opportunity to sign up and assist in drafting commendations for the various nominees. As debate opened on who to commend first, Calvin Coolidge emerged as the obvious choice due being a popular nominee in sign-up posts. “When the Heroes of Valhalla program was started, I never thought I would be considered for a commend, and was therefore shocked to be told that I was going to be the very first nominee put forward,” Calvin Coolidge said in an interview with the EBC. “I had always felt like there was more I needed to do to be considered for such an honor, and felt kind of self-conscious throughout the process that someone would stand up and say ‘He doesn't deserve this, let's move on to someone else!’ But that never happened, and here we are. So, it was very validating.”
The path towards commending a Hero of Valhalla has been carefully laid out, and begins with a portfolio of the nominee. “A profile is created listing merits and potential issues concerning a nominee,” explains Greater Cesnica. “This stage fleshes out the commendable aspects of a nominee and allows for additional research into such aspects to bolster them.” From there, the information is channeled into a rough draft, where collaboration is intended to improve the draft to a point where it can be posted on the Security Council forum on NationStates. Inactivity, a problem with other regional commendation programs, can be a hazard. When the rough draft to commend Calvin Coolidge hit this wall, Inishmaan took the matter into his own hands. “Unfortunately this draft sat for several months without movement before I decided one weekend to move forward with things and write my own draft with what we had in mind,” he said. “Going forward, I want this to be a more collaborative process with multiple people involved in both collating evidence and drafting. While we want to commend worthy nominees, we also want to get more authors and more badges!” Following further edits on the NationStates forums, Commend Calvin Coolidge was soon on the voting floor of the Security Council. “I feel very humbled to be commended,” said Calvin.
With the first success of Heroes of Valhalla on full display, program insiders are now turning to the future. With a long and growing list of heroes to commend, the program could prove to be a long-term success for all three regions involved. When asked about the future of Heroes of Valhalla, Greater Cesnica said, “Going forward, I expect that HoV will steadily work down the list of nominees identify new ones in the meanwhile - that is to say, it will take a long time for this project's lifespan to come to a close.” Heroes of Valhalla is not only here to stay, but here to bring commendations to many well-deserving people. “I think the Heroes of Valhalla is a wonderful addition to the infrastructure that we already have in place to reward the citizens who put in the work,” says Calvin Coolidge. “We have our Ovations and Triumphs, over 30 awarded in our history, and only 5 commendations so far that I can think of. We have the talent pool to make these commends and have the world take notice of the wondrous Europeians, North Pacificans, and Balderites, so let's make it happen and get our people jazzed about the World Assembly, make our voices heard, and put our best face forward!”
