[EBC Exclusive] Goodnight, Europeia III






Goodnight, Europeia III
CSP's Presidential Diary

Written by CSP (duh)




Dear Diary,

Inspired by former Presidents Oliver Grey and Sopo, I will be endeavoring to share my experience of being President and the work we're doing in a more informal format and with greater regularity than we might normally expect. I won't post here every day but I will do my best to make sure it's multiple times per week for the rest of the term. I hope people will feel encouraged to engage in this thread. I'll be sure to link future entries in this original post to make things easier for any readers who join us a little further down the line.

I've been President of Europeia for more than two weeks, which is frankly a bit of a mind fuck. I'll be honest and admit that it's taken me longer than I had hoped to get our administration organized to the extent I would have liked. I think that's a function of a few things. First, as you probably know, my campaign for president was not one that was planned weeks in advance. We had to scramble to get a platform ready that we could be proud of, to make sure the right people had input before it was posted. We had to assemble a prospective Cabinet and, of course, actually campaign. There wasn't a lot of time to lay down runway and get ahead of the game in that window. Second, I moved 1,400 miles away to start a new job last week and I underestimated the impact that would have on my ability to drive organizational imperatives forward. Finally, I also forgot just how much time it actually takes to be President before you actually get to do any work. When you log on every day, there are several people waiting for answers from you. Sometimes it's a quick sign off or something to be delegated but sometimes it's a deal where you need to spend a significant amount of time or an initiative simply isn't going to move forward. In any case, I think I'm adjusting well and we remain on the right path, from a team-wide organizational perspective.

The better news is that I have so many talented, enthusiastic leaders to depend on. To no one's surprise, I obviously chose the right person to be my Vice President. @Writinglegend has been patient with me, I can tell. I haven't seen him this motivated in years and feel very lucky for it. He has a unique ability to assess what I haven't considered or prioritized and make sure important projects aren't slipping through the cracks. He's been everywhere but he's been especially invaluable when it comes to coordinating the ministries as we prepare for big events like UCR Con or our upcoming Founding Day festivities. These events present great opportunities to employ the ideas and labors of more of our ministry staff but keeping it all on track, focused, and delivered on time across multiple ministries isn't an easy thing to do. I am grateful for him and his basedness.

The Cabinet have been such good sports. From our very first day in office they've balked at nothing that's been asked of them and we've asked a lot, I think. People are quick to raise their hand and make shit happen and the vibes are just on. They're excited to do their jobs every day. They're excited to help each other. They're making real progress on deliverables every day. We haven't had to pull many teeth to this point. I feel a great responsibility to keep that going, to make sure they have the things they need to maintain the optimism and productivity they've shown so far.

In the coming days I'm looking forward to the AMAs we're doing on the Regional Message Board and further content those conversations will create on Radio and in the EBC. I'm hyped on planning for Founding Day. I'm excited about preparing a formal address to update everybody on what we're doing and how we're doing it for next week. Senate elections are getting close too. It might be time to bring the Smoke. Not going to make any promises there just yet. In any case, I'll be back here soon and I hope to dig a little deeper into our day-to-day and what this experience is like for me, personally. Until then...

Goodnight, Europeia.
 
These kinds of insight into the "Behind-The-Scenes" of the Presidency are so incredibly helpful. Sometimes, the only thing the average citizen gets to see is the really obvious stuff: the EBC articles, an ERN operation, diplomatic matters between two regions; but those things don't/can't happen every single day of an entire term. I always believed that one of the most important aspects of being a great elected official here in Europeia is a strong ability to communicate. Results of course matter too, don't misunderstand me, but being able to properly communicate the nuances of successes and failures is just as much a key part of the job.

In any case, looking forward to a continued developing term and more diary entries from you, Mr. President.
 
I'm still a big fan of this idea and look forward to more of these!
 
This is a great idea; I hope the tradition of these Fireside-esque chats continue through subsequent Presidents and Administrations.
 





Goodnight, Europeia
Volume III, Entry II

CSP's Presidential Diary

Written by CSP (duh)




Dear Diary,

Last week I sought to clarify some misconceptions about my availability with the Cabinet. In the interest of transparency and to correct some mischaracterizations floating around, I share that now with you with but a few lite edits.

Me said:
There was some disingenuous feedback in the midterm executive poll regarding my availability and I have spent the past couple of days reflecting on how I might have inadvertently contributed to some misperceptions...

...I would like to take a quick moment to address where I think some of these breakdowns may have stemmed from and I will be talking about this in a more public way later in the week.

I think that the way I have communicated when I'm "here" and when I'm "not here" has contributed to the impression that I am not available on nights and weekends, which is not the case. Looking back, I can see how one might reasonably come to that conclusion and that's on me, not on you. So let's unpack that a little bit in the interest of clearing things up.

I am typically at my office from around 9am until 5pm or later every weekday. There are exceptions but that is the rule. This is time during which I am sitting in front of my computer, more or less constantly. During that time, unless I have a really important meeting going on, I am logged into Europeia (forums, Discord & gameside) and I am actively participating for much of that time whether that means in active conversation or working on one of our many projects. I would say, without exaggeration, that for most of this term I have spent more of my time on Europeia than my real-life job. This is the time during which I can be most productive, most available, and most helpful to you. Therefore, I have tried to confine most of my actively engaged activity to this general timeframe.

I have routinely let you know when I am leaving work, should you have any urgent needs of me, not because I am unavailable past this point in the day but because I will not be sitting in front of my computer anymore and it may take longer for me to get back to you. In many cases, it might have to wait until tomorrow.

Similarly, I do not sit in front of my computer for work or for NS on the weekends, if I can help it. I live my life. I go fishing. I read. I do errands and chores. I go on dates and talk to friends and family on the phone. Sometimes, though, I do spend a significant amount of time participating in our radio broadcasts and having conversations with y'all, with Kaz, with foreign leaders. I'm just not doing that from morning to evening without interruption.

So I hope it can be understood that when I say that I'm "out of here" for the day, that doesn't mean I'm straight up done and unreachable. It means I am no longer sitting in front of my computer and things will take longer because I have a life that I live outside of being President of Europeia...

...As always, if you have concerns relevant to me or this team, you are encouraged to bring those concerns to me and/or Gleg so that we can address them to the best of our ability. Sometimes that will be easy and sometimes that will be hard but we will always listen to you and be honest about what we can and can't do. That's all for now.

I hope this helps clarify any concerns stemming from the recent poll comments which contained the aforementioned mischaracterizations. If not, always happy to chat about it. There is so much happening this week and I hope to be back here writing very soon. Until then...

Goodnight, Europeia.
 
I was talking to someone about this earlier, and I can't help but wonder if simply the act of telling people "you're out for the day" created this confusion. Think about how many people in Europeia are old enough to work in office/corporate environments, and the only exposure to that phrase is when people are literally leaving the office for the day (or logging off Zoom for the day, I suppose), with or without the caveat of "available by cell or email if needed."
 





Goodnight, Europeia IV
Volume IV, Entry I

Writinglegend's Presidential Diary
Written by Writinglegend



Dear Diary,

I kind of forgot how busy this position is!

I am waiting for my Cabinet to me confirmed. I have established goals for my Cabinet this week and I am excited for them to get down to work -- and for Sincluda and I to of course help. This week will focus largely on organization. We need to get our calendars in order, schedule our events, and plan out our broad goals to know what time-line we will be operating under. This will help our administration start off on the right foot. This is the most crucial week in the term!

I was planning on running a team building activity with the new Cabinet, but I'm not sure what to do. I have Disney+ and might be able to stream Shrek. Might be able to run a game night or music night for an hour while we can chat or do work. I don't know! Does the public have any ideas??

The first forty-eight hours of the presidency has been very busy, as anyone that has looked at the Senate might see. I promise though that I am hard at work to lay the foundations of a very successful term for Europeia! I want to thank my Vice President Sincluda and my cabinet nominees and advisors for being a constant foundation for help. The presidency is never a one person job.

I have released my inaugural address and gave out some awards from last term. Sincluda released an amazing inaugural address as well here that deserves some love. Sincluda inspires me a lot to be better and do better for this community. I also joined the Ministry of Pod for a really fantastic post-election wrap up to shine more of a light on how campaign operations work in Euro for those that might not have that exposure. I was also sworn into office and revealed my Cabinet live on the air. I could not reveal my Cabinet without laughing about the oath of office that I was forced to read.

I don't have anything else interesting to add. I will let ya'll know when I do. Until then!

Goodnight, Europeia.
 
shrek please
 
I support Shrek but also full disclosure movie nights a reeaallly hard on a phone. So much split screening D:

Can we play monopoly instead 👀
 
I support Shrek but also full disclosure movie nights a reeaallly hard on a phone. So much split screening D:

Can we play monopoly instead 👀
only if i can be the dog
 





Goodnight, Europeia IV
Volume IV, Entry II

Writinglegend's Presidential Diary
Written by Writinglegend


Hi.

The Cabinet has been hard at work this week! Everyone has been so awesome and communicative. We held a one hour meeting this week to get our calendars ready for publication, which leads me to say....

Calendars have bee published. A communications calendar is also made for staff in Radio and Comms. We have set a timeline for a transition to Spotify, and are dedicated to launching our first Spotify show during the General Senate Election. I am also hosting weekly fireside chats on radio, every Saturday afternoon, with the first show dropping in fifteen minutes! These calendars to not collect personal information and are merely tools to bring everyone closer to Europeia's activities and plans.

I have missed the fast-paced nature of this office. Every day is a new challenge, both domestically and abroad. My DM's are blown up every day. It can seem daunting and it takes some organizational finesse to make things work. In the chaos of everything, it can be easy to forget that it is important to communicate with the citizens of this region to inform them of decisions we decide to make. That is why we published a statement on the repeal of our treaty with The Communist Bloc and hosted a radio show with our friends abroad to give insight into what went into making such a decision.

I am committed to always talking to ya'll in this region. I want everyone to know not just what decisions we make, but why we make them.

Catch me on radio soon!! I will be gassing up our Cabinet and all of the hard work they have put in this week. And I have to say, it looks like we are going to pass on the Shrek movie night but I promise to come up with a fun team-building activity soon. :-/

Goodnight, Europeia.
 




Goodnight, Europeia IV
Volume IV, Entry III

Writinglegend's Presidential Diary
Written by Writinglegend


Hey ya'll. Kind of hard to believe we are still coming up on the two week mark of the term. It feels like it as honestly been eons since I took office. As everyone can probably tell we have been very, very swamped with work.

Foreign affairs is difficult. You don't know when something will pop up. We generally like to make fun of that aspect of foreign affairs, but it can definitely be stressful. It feels like at any moment a situation could arise that needs your attention or strategic thought. It means as president you always have to be on your toes. This is why it's helpful to have an overarching foreign strategy. It makes answering these immediate calls easier and works as a guideline to assist you and your Minister of Foreign Affairs in carving a direction to the ultimate foreign policy objective. I feel like as an administration we have been very successful in this, and it has allowed us to respond proactively to situations as they develop. We have some control! It is important to remember the domestic aspect of foreign affairs: our populace deserves to be informed and connected to the decisions we make. That is why I made a long post in the Senate about our treaty repeal and general direction, and why Sopo and I hopped on to the Ministry of Pod to talk foreign policy. But Sopo has definitely taken a lot of my bandwidth the start of this term (poor him). I want to thank Sopo and Kuramia for being so helpful and proactive in these situations.

Domestically, I want to highlight a few things. Our team has been AMAZING. I try and check up when and where possible but honestly they are doing such a fantastic job in completing their weekly goals. We have an amazing event with The League this weekend that y'all should join the discord for, we have a fantastic writing competition started, we have a new Interior RMB programming schedule launched and being tested this week, we have seen some fantastic pieces of journalism from the EBC like the article on Condemn Koth, and Radio is launching its radio transition committee to fully move away from Mixlr in the near future. Everyone is working together, and I love that. We should have radio shows and EBC coverage of our fun times with The League this weekend and I hope our citizenry takes this time to learn more about these friends we have abroad and the community they have built for the last several years.

My mountain: Launching the event with The League, which will be the start of our spark engagement initiatives this term.
My valley: Dealing with another FA crisis means I had to take a lot of time to work on foreign affairs which is stressful and can cause some looooong nights. It can be hard to balance domestic affairs when that stuff arises (Sincluda has been AWESOME in helping to do that!!)
What I'm Looking Forward To: hopefully a quiet and calm weekend jeeeeeeez

What are everyone's mountains and valleys for this week or today? I hope everyone is having a good week. I told Sopo this earlier but I really forgot how fun this game can and should be!

Goodnight, Europeia.
 
Mountain: a lot of really affirming collaborative work with the Cabinet, ministry staffers, and foreign partners
Valley: PhDre
Ain't no valley low enough 🎶 - ummm, have you met PhDre?
 




Goodnight, Europeia IV
Volume IV, Entry IV

Writinglegend's Presidential Diary
Written by Writinglegend


This has been the first week where I have just be swamped with IRL stuff so I have not dedicated the amount of time that I would have ideally liked to NationStates and the region at large. I wanted to get one of these diary entries out early this week and couldn't so for that I apologize. For those unaware, I am graduating from university next week and ended up finishing my last round of finals this week. That is always the busiest time of the year, but now that it is over it feels like a huuuuuge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

This week, with my Cabinet, I am going to be hosting internal debrief sessions to see how Sincluda and myself can better lead and manage our team. I want to make sure we are doing all that we can to make our ministers feel comfortable and supported throughout the process of this term. Any progress in this region is a team effort -- whether in a ministry itself or in the Executive as a whole. One person is never enough and one person is not a sustainable venture. It takes a combination of people to make sustainable progress.

This week, I just feel behind? Not sure. I believe that everything this term has gone well. Obviously, not everything is perfect and we need to do better in some areas. But just this week, because of how busy I have been, it can sometime feel like I am not doing enough to help drive our progress. This is one of the reasons I will be hosting the debrief sessions. This is a common feeling that I have, and it is because back in the old days I would largely push all of these big projects by myself without relying on others. I just don't have the time to do that anymore and that leads to burnout, so I need to trust others and lead differently. But because I am not actively pushing myself 200%, it can feel like I am not doing enough. This in turn makes me feel like I am behind on my goals.

Just wanted to put these feelings out there, and figured this is the best place for it! That is why we have these diary entries. There is always going to be some point in the term where you feel like you can be doing more, and that is something that has happened to me every presidential term. I am, however, super energetic and excited for what else our awesome team can accomplish :))

Goodnight, Europeia.
 
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