Interview with Lloenflys





Interview with Lloenflys
Mini series: the people behind the Ministries

Written by recombis








(Europeia — March 19, 2019) As part of a new mini series, the EBC sat down to talk to the new Culture Minister, Lloenflys. We spoke with Lloenflys about his aims and plans for the Culture ministry.

Recombis: What are your aims for this term as Culture Minister?

Lloenflys: For this term, there are a few things that I'd like to accomplish. First, the obvious ones - we have an Ovation coming up soon for the one and only Speaker Aexnidaral, and I'm hoping that can be a great opportunity for our region to celebrate one of its most distinguished and deserving members. There will be some things that are just sort of fun and silly, but also a lot of stuff that will recall the really fine work that Aex has done for Europeia. I'm hoping to stabilize the ministry a bit. When I took over the role Culture was just kind of floating a long a bit because there haven't been as many clearly defined roles for people to fill. I'm going a bit slowly at that but my hope is to re-stack the ranks of Culture with people who have some clearly defined goals that they can work on to make the Ministry a stronger one moving forward.

Recombis: If you are re-elected as a Senator, how will you balance your Senate duties and your Culture responsibilities?

Lloenflys: Active service as a Senator doesn't usually take that much time, with the exception of when there is a specific task going on that requires more of a concentrated burst of attention. So far, that hasn't been a problem for me and I don't anticipate it being so in the future. If I did find that there was something that was preventing me from doing both effectively, I would make the necessary adjustments, which probably would mean spending less time working on other projects I have in my personal life so I could dedicate more time to whatever it was I needed to do in Europeia while I was serving in both offices.

Recombis: What made you take up the offer of Culture Minister?

Lloenflys: I've said since I joined Europeia that I was willing to help out in whatever capacity people wanted to utilize me. When Kuramia approached me and asked if I would be willing to serve as the Minister of Culture during her short Presidency, I was surprised because it wasn't a position I had thought of taking up. However, when I thought about the role I decided it was something that I thought I would be able to do, so I said yes. It became clear fairly early in that Presidency that the candidates for First Minister were mostly planning to keep the cabinet together as constituted by Kuramia, so I had the mindset that I would be staying in that role for the duration of the first First Minister's term. It's a role that I've been trying to evolve a little bit to add some variety to what the office does and leave at least something of an imprint - I have another 50 days or so to throw some more things at the wall and see what sticks!

Recombis: Out of the things you mentioned would like to accomplish, which one is the top priority for you?

Lloenflys: Well, that's hard to answer because there is a short term top priority and a longer term top priority. In the short term I want to make sure that the Ovation for Speaker Aexnidaral is great, that everyone enjoys it, and that we adequately celebrate one of the forces in our region. In the long term, I think making sure that the Ministry gets some sort of clearly defined structure to it with staff that knows what they are responsible for would be the bigger contribution because it will be passed on from Minister to Minister for at least some time before I would antiticpate it being significantly revised. So I'm going to cheat and say both of those things.

Recombis: What’s it like to work for Rand?

Lloenflys: Rand has been a very effective First Minister from an accountability standpoint. He issues clear expectations as a Minister and is willing to work with you on ideas that you bring forward. Communication is important to him and that's always welcome when you're working with someone closely. I've enjoyed working in his cabinet!

Recombis: How could Europeia support you to do more?

Lloenflys: Well to be fair, I haven't asked for a lot of support so far (something I personally need to do better with), but when I get to asking for more volunteers and things like that to be part of the Ministry of Culture, I hope that many Europeians will rise to the challenge. The great thing about the Ministry of Culture is we can do just about *anything* that we want to have fun with and it can be an official thing. So I'm going to be encouraging people to bring ideas for games, contests, events, etc. and I'm hoping that Europeia responds by bringing a bunch of fun stuff to the table!

Recombis: What would you say are your best bits in Europeia so far?

Lloenflys: There isn't a specific thing I would point to and say "This is my shining accomplishment." I think my answer is that I'm proud of the particular niche I've carved for myself in the region as a publisher of *hopefully* interesting things that otherwise wouldn't be published. Whether that's in Lloenfly's Gavel (which badly needs some attention paid to it) or as Minister of Culture with the Becoming Cultured Series, or even the weird random roleplays that have popped up in official Culture threads and random places like the "Last to post here" thread, I'm proud of having added my bit of quirkiness to the Europeian ecosystem.

Recombis: What are the challenges you’ve faced so far?

Lloenflys: More than anything else I would say the challenges are getting to learn people's personalities and how they'll respond to things. That's a fun challenge though, and something I enjoy. I haven't had any challenges that have made me upset or made me feel like things were going poorly, so that's a good thing!

Recombis: Where do you see yourself in 3 months time?

Lloenflys: I think in three months time I will have completed a term as Ministry of Culture and I'm HOPING I will have completed a term and a half as a Senator. I think what I'll be doing at that point is assessing my effectiveness in these roles and determining if there's more that I think I have to offer in them. Hopefully the answer is that I was effective!

Recombis: Thank you for speaking with us today Lloenflys.

Lloenflys: No problem, it was my pleasure.

This article is part of a series where the EBC interviews the Cabinet to pick their brains. We will be offering an opportunity for you to ask questions to these interviewees via Google Forms.
 
Stands up from the crowd, and gives a nice, steady, championing ovation. What ho! these lovely people on the stage have shown themselves to be of ultimate talent and greatest glory. There is a tear that slowly makes its way down the face, and the smile is wide and genuine. "Bravo!" is the cry. "Bravo, for Europeia!"

And then the tackle from the security. No more clapping.
 
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