- Pronouns
- He/Him
I saw the VP Candidate Questionnaire and if I was running for VP, here is how I would answer some of the questions. This can serve as a notice to future presidential candidates. I didn't answer questions that referred to a presidential candidate, other opponents, etc. Think of it as an audition!
2. The role of vice president has varied over time from advisor, to super-minister, to co-president. What role will you play in the administration if your ticket is elected?
I will say as Vice President, I would play two roles: a "super-deputy" and a sounding board. I think it is crucial that for every important decision and goals the President set out, the Vice President is there to act as a sounding board to assure the decision/goal made is thoroughly thought out and that it can be implemented. As a quasi public-policy major in real life, I like to approach a problem from every possible angle and throw ideas at the wall to see what sticks. For being a "super-deputy", that means I would check in ministries that need assistance and lead by example if needed particularly if a ministry is low on staff. But for more well-equipped ministries, that mean I just serve as a helper for a big initiative whether to help commend one of our fellow citizens or planning a festival.
3. The VP role often assists the President in managing and providing support to Cabinet officials. At a high level, how would you work to support a Cabinet official who is trying hard, but struggling to do their job up to par?
So, I actually had some experience with this not as a minister but as a Delegate. During the Delegacy transition, I asked the deputy delegate to endotart people and after not doing any for 9 days. I got frustrated and fired him. A few lessons I learned that day were to always check in if they're not responding due to personal RL reasons and to lead by example; I was not doing enough endotarting of my own to make it clear that everyone else should be doing the same. If there was a Cabinet official who was trying hard but not doing the best, I need to bust my ass to help them out yknow? And if it is not getting much better after doing that and ministry staff are disgruntled, we would need to have a honest conversation about replacing them. It is crucial for a minister, especially a newer one or with RL issues, to get a fair shake but if their performance worsen the morale and productivity for all of the other staff in the ministry, that is a net loss.
4. Recruiting is the lifeblood of the region. Now that it is easier than ever through the Asperta bot, would you support a return to a mandatory recruiting requirement for elected officials? Why or why not?
Absolutely not. In my many years when mandatory recruitment get brought up, it is intensely divisive. We focus so much talking about mandatory recruitment that we lose focus of actually talking about how to improve recruiting, welcoming, and integrating. A ministry full of people who want to recruit and are motivated to do so is far more productive than a ministry of recruiters who don't want to be there. I think the key to effective recruitment are effective incentives. If you keep it light and fun in the right way, recruiters are happy. And to be honest, I think sometimes we worry so much about recruitment that we forget integration and welcoming is just as important, if not more. During the Drew Boom, we got so many new nations but hardly any of them actually became permanent citizens. Of course that is an outlier, but I worry more about how many new active citizens we get compared to how many new nations we get. I believe that NationStates is a game declining in membership so I believe the focus should be getting the best bang for our buck.
6. Well over a year since the Frontier/Stronghold update, NS staff is considering additional changes to the game mechanic. Do you believe the choice to become a frontier has been beneficial for Europeia? Why or why not? If not, would you support a transition back to stronghold?
I don't pretend to be the most educated on this issue but from folks far more knowledgeable than me, I have heard almost nothing positive about our frontier transition. It appears to have initially been a success but it has not been much of a success in the long run. I would have said "yes" a long time ago but would be "no" nowadays. I see no need to rush to transition back to Stronghold but I have heard Sedge is planning to introduce some updates that are going to make the game even worse and if that would make our Frontier status even more of a negative trait in addition to the security issues being a Frontier involves, we should absolutely talk about being a Stronghold.
7. If your President resigned and you ascended to the Goldenblock, how confident would you be to serve as President? Are there different strengths or weaknesses you think you might bring to the top job?
I was President briefly before but funny enough, I don't want to rely on that experience. I was a very different person back then, and my inability to balance my personal issues in real life as a 18 year old negatively impacted my ability to enjoy this game. When I was referring to my college major earlier, I am an urban planning major specifically. I am used to looking at issues thoroughly, asking for experts on their thoughts, and suggesting as many ideas as I can to solve the issue. I also have a pattern of wanting to be honest with people and I don't like to pretend the picture is rosier than it actually is. So, I find that my strength as a President is I am a pragmatic optimist; I am willing to solve the problem but I am willing to defer to the ministers and experts when needed. My weakness is because I like to thoroughly look at issues, I can sometimes be too slow to actually solve the issue. That can easily happen with such a long presidential term. So I would always need my cabinet, especially my new Vice President, to "be real" with me and give me a deadline if needed. At my real life job, I always ask for a deadline when possible.
8. If you lose, how will you stay involved and support the next administration?
I can never know what an opponent would want me to be doing in their administration but regardless of if I am nominated to be a minister or not, I will always be active in a ministry. I will always be in foreign affairs at the very least! A successful administration is a successful Europeia, regardless of who is leading. It would be an honor to help them out.
2. The role of vice president has varied over time from advisor, to super-minister, to co-president. What role will you play in the administration if your ticket is elected?
I will say as Vice President, I would play two roles: a "super-deputy" and a sounding board. I think it is crucial that for every important decision and goals the President set out, the Vice President is there to act as a sounding board to assure the decision/goal made is thoroughly thought out and that it can be implemented. As a quasi public-policy major in real life, I like to approach a problem from every possible angle and throw ideas at the wall to see what sticks. For being a "super-deputy", that means I would check in ministries that need assistance and lead by example if needed particularly if a ministry is low on staff. But for more well-equipped ministries, that mean I just serve as a helper for a big initiative whether to help commend one of our fellow citizens or planning a festival.
3. The VP role often assists the President in managing and providing support to Cabinet officials. At a high level, how would you work to support a Cabinet official who is trying hard, but struggling to do their job up to par?
So, I actually had some experience with this not as a minister but as a Delegate. During the Delegacy transition, I asked the deputy delegate to endotart people and after not doing any for 9 days. I got frustrated and fired him. A few lessons I learned that day were to always check in if they're not responding due to personal RL reasons and to lead by example; I was not doing enough endotarting of my own to make it clear that everyone else should be doing the same. If there was a Cabinet official who was trying hard but not doing the best, I need to bust my ass to help them out yknow? And if it is not getting much better after doing that and ministry staff are disgruntled, we would need to have a honest conversation about replacing them. It is crucial for a minister, especially a newer one or with RL issues, to get a fair shake but if their performance worsen the morale and productivity for all of the other staff in the ministry, that is a net loss.
4. Recruiting is the lifeblood of the region. Now that it is easier than ever through the Asperta bot, would you support a return to a mandatory recruiting requirement for elected officials? Why or why not?
Absolutely not. In my many years when mandatory recruitment get brought up, it is intensely divisive. We focus so much talking about mandatory recruitment that we lose focus of actually talking about how to improve recruiting, welcoming, and integrating. A ministry full of people who want to recruit and are motivated to do so is far more productive than a ministry of recruiters who don't want to be there. I think the key to effective recruitment are effective incentives. If you keep it light and fun in the right way, recruiters are happy. And to be honest, I think sometimes we worry so much about recruitment that we forget integration and welcoming is just as important, if not more. During the Drew Boom, we got so many new nations but hardly any of them actually became permanent citizens. Of course that is an outlier, but I worry more about how many new active citizens we get compared to how many new nations we get. I believe that NationStates is a game declining in membership so I believe the focus should be getting the best bang for our buck.
6. Well over a year since the Frontier/Stronghold update, NS staff is considering additional changes to the game mechanic. Do you believe the choice to become a frontier has been beneficial for Europeia? Why or why not? If not, would you support a transition back to stronghold?
I don't pretend to be the most educated on this issue but from folks far more knowledgeable than me, I have heard almost nothing positive about our frontier transition. It appears to have initially been a success but it has not been much of a success in the long run. I would have said "yes" a long time ago but would be "no" nowadays. I see no need to rush to transition back to Stronghold but I have heard Sedge is planning to introduce some updates that are going to make the game even worse and if that would make our Frontier status even more of a negative trait in addition to the security issues being a Frontier involves, we should absolutely talk about being a Stronghold.
7. If your President resigned and you ascended to the Goldenblock, how confident would you be to serve as President? Are there different strengths or weaknesses you think you might bring to the top job?
I was President briefly before but funny enough, I don't want to rely on that experience. I was a very different person back then, and my inability to balance my personal issues in real life as a 18 year old negatively impacted my ability to enjoy this game. When I was referring to my college major earlier, I am an urban planning major specifically. I am used to looking at issues thoroughly, asking for experts on their thoughts, and suggesting as many ideas as I can to solve the issue. I also have a pattern of wanting to be honest with people and I don't like to pretend the picture is rosier than it actually is. So, I find that my strength as a President is I am a pragmatic optimist; I am willing to solve the problem but I am willing to defer to the ministers and experts when needed. My weakness is because I like to thoroughly look at issues, I can sometimes be too slow to actually solve the issue. That can easily happen with such a long presidential term. So I would always need my cabinet, especially my new Vice President, to "be real" with me and give me a deadline if needed. At my real life job, I always ask for a deadline when possible.
8. If you lose, how will you stay involved and support the next administration?
I can never know what an opponent would want me to be doing in their administration but regardless of if I am nominated to be a minister or not, I will always be active in a ministry. I will always be in foreign affairs at the very least! A successful administration is a successful Europeia, regardless of who is leading. It would be an honor to help them out.