Orristania for Citizen-Liaison!

[Orristania]

Hello, everyone!          

As some of you might know, my name is Orristania, and I’m a member of the Taijitu region. Ever since joining, I’ve been delighted by Taijitu’s great role play opportunities, its easily accessible, citizen-led governmental structure, and most of all, the friendliness and good nature of all of those in its forum community. Taijitu is truly one of the best regions I’ve seen throughout my time in NationStates, and I’m sincerely happy to call it my nation’s home.

Recently, a senior member and government official from the region contacted me to ask if I might be interested in throwing my hat into the ring in order to introduce my ideas for how I think I can improve the region as Citizen-Liaison. I’m excited to have the opportunity to present my ideas to the region, and hope that, if elected Citizen-Liaison of Taijitu, I will be able to help improve many aspects of the region to the best of my ability.

As Citizen-Liaison, I will present and execute a variety of innovative plans, programs, and ideas that I believe will effectively both expand and increase the quality of our region for all involved. These ideas will revolve around three main goals – (a) expanding role play opportunities and activity in Taijitu, (b) increasing member activity levels in Taijitu, and (c) ensuring that Taijitu and its forums are as welcoming, accessible, and understandable as possible for all new nations in the region. I will now describe each of these individual goals in detail:

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First, as Citizen-Liaison, I will work to expand the number and quality of role play opportunities available in the region of Taijitu. In my view, the region of Taijitu, while amazingly active both in membership and forum involvement, is noticeably lacking when it comes to role play opportunities. As of August 15, 2015, the last active topic in the Modern Era Fiction Board of the Taijitu World Building Section was posted in on July 1, while other than my own stories, the last active topic in the Pre-Modern Era Fiction Board was posted in on July 18. These dates reflect an amazing lack of interest in the world building section of the Taijitu forum, and show that Taijitu role play has myriad room for improvement.

As Citizen-Liaison, I would try, to the best of my ability, improve the Taijitu role play experience by making the world building section of the forum more active, more accessible, and more intriguing. First and foremost, I would, during my first weeks in office, introduce a large series of fun, interesting role play events and experiences to the forum that would be open for all forum members to participate in. In the Modern Era Fiction Board, I would introduce a World Fair, an Olympics, and an international leadership conference, among a range of other role play events and experiences for all nations to enjoy. Meanwhile, on the Pre-Modern Era Fiction Board, I would introduce a variety of historical role play events, including RPs describing the formations of nations within our region, historical meetings/conferences between nations, and, of course, a military conflict or two. Once more, I would make sure to open these RP events to all nations who want to participate, and assure that new nations understand and look forward to the role play section of the forum using the mentoring system I have proposed (see below). 

As Citizen-Liaison, I would also try to further expand world-building activity on the forum by encouraging the creation of national fact books and wikis for each nation who wants to be involved, as well as the creation of character-based stories and vignettes that help define each nation and its’ history and culture.

Overall, as Citizen-Liaison, I plan to expand and increase the quality of Taijitu’s world building community by introducing a variety of new role play events and experiences, assuring that new and old members alike understand and look forward to the world building experience, and encouraging the creation of national fact books, wikis, stories, and vignettes that define each nation and its’ society.

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While our region, amazingly, is already the sixteenth biggest in all of NationStates with almost five hundred member nations, I think that the quality of our forum could be greatly increased by not just encouraging more nations to join the region, but encouraging nations that have joined to become active members of the regional community.

The first step in creating a more active region, of course, is making sure that regional recruitment attempts are fruitful in the admission of new member nations. I applaud Gulliver for his truly fantastic recruitment program (I wouldn’t be in Taijitu without it), and remain confident that our region is one of the best in NationStates at attracting new member nations. Of course, however, with new nations constantly being flooded with recruitment telegrams left and right these days, we must recognize that the key to attracting the attention of new members is an eye-popping, easily noticeable recruitment style, which I believe would help out any region in increasing member admission rates.

Once a new nation decides to come to our region, however, our main focus should be assuring that the nation both (a) stays in our region and (b) becomes an actual active member of the community. While accomplishing these goals may seem easy enough, doing so just simply won’t happen until significant changes are made. Unfortunately, many current senior members of our region seem to have adopted the mindset that once a nation joins Taijitu, it is up to that nation alone to decide, without outside input, whether it wants to stay and become active in the region or not. With this mindset, to be honest, we won’t be getting very far. Instead of leaving new nations alone and expecting them to decide on their own whether to stay in the region and become active or not, we need to start actively guiding new members through the different parts and intricacies of our region, showing them the friendliness and openness of the Taijitu community, and assuring them that our region has plenty of opportunities that make it one of the greatest in all of NationStates. Sending one or two recruitment telegrams generally isn’t enough to convince a new nation to become active in our region – instead, we must take an extra step by approaching new members of the forum community and convincing them that staying in our region is worth it. How is this done? Read my final goal to learn.

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As explained above, we can’t simply expect new member nations to stay in our region and become active on their own. Instead of ignoring new nations and forcing them to decide for themselves whether staying in Taijitu is worth it, we need to take the first step by approaching all new nations with open arms and assuring them of the opportunities and benefits of our region. This can be done with a Citizen-Mentor Program.

As Citizen-Liaison, I will introduce a Citizen-Mentor Program that will increase the number of active members in our region simply by reaching out to new nations. In order to become a Citizen-Mentor, one must simply apply for the position by posting in an application thread, with the only requirements being that all Citizen-Mentors must be registered Citizens in Taijitu, have a broad knowledge of the region, its history, its government, its forum, and its functions, and be willing to carry out the position of Citizen-Mentor as effectively as possible.

When a new nation arrives in Taijitu, a Citizen-Mentor will be selected to guide the new nation (Citizen-Mentors will take turns claiming responsibility for new nations). The following are appropriate steps that a Citizen-Mentor must take in order to successfully fulfill his or her role in assuring that new members of the region decide to stay and become active:

1. After a new nation joins our region and a Citizen-Mentor is selected to guide them, the Citizen-Mentor is responsible for sending a telegram the new nation with a general introduction to the region and its forum. While this role might seem similar to simply sending a recruitment telegram that describes our region, the PM that the Citizen-Mentor is responsible for sending is to be more specific and personal. The template for the PM is as follows:

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Hi, [new nation username]!

My name is [Citizen-Mentor username], and I'm a Citizen-Mentor here in Taijitu. I'm delighted to see that you have decided to join our region, and I was wondering if you would like a little tour in order to better understand all of the great opportunities that you now have as a member of Taijitu.

The first thing that you need to do as a member of Taijitu is join our regional forum, located at http://forum.taijitu.org. This forum is where the vast majority of our regional activity takes place, so it is essential that you join in order to gain the full Taijitu experience. In order to register, simply click the 'Register' button at the upper-right corner of the page and follow the instructions carefully. Once more, most of our region's activity by far takes place on this forum, so it's really important that you join in order to become a full member of the region.

Now that you're a member of the forum, the first thing I recommend you do is introduce yourself to our community in the Welcome Area. Here, you can tell us a little about yourself and your nation, and you can also apply for Citizenship, meaning that you will be able to vote in our regional government elections and even maybe run for office yourself! If you're interested, you can also join the Citizens' Militia, which is responsible for protecting our region and other regions across NationStates from the Raiders, who try to hack into regional governments and destroy regional communities. You'll learn more about your duties and responsibilities as a member of the Militia when you sign up.

Now that you've introduced yourself to the region, applied for Citizenship, and joined the Citizens' Militia if you so choose, you can start exploring the other parts of our forum, which contain ample opportunities for you and your nation. First, under the 'General Category' Section on the main forum index, you can feel free to discuss non-NationStates related subjects to your heart's content, such as video games, arts and entertainment, and your real life experiences.

Up next is the 'Taijitu World Building' Section, which can also be found on the main forum index - this is where the real fun gets started. If you're into nation role play, this is the spot for you, as at any given time we will a variety of RP events and experiences open to all members of the forum that you can feel free to participate in. You can also post fact books and stories from your nation in this section - feel free to check out those from other nations in order to get an idea of what you can do. Also, feel free to make a page for your nation on our Wiki, and feel free to check out the Role Play Guide as well, so you can learn how to role play with your nation and what world building opportunities Taijitu has to offer.

Under the World Building Section on the main forum index is the 'City Center' Section - this is where you can join the University of the Glorious Revolution (our main regional university), post about your nation's religious centers and other organizations, and read our nation's news in the Voice of the People.

Finally, you should check out the 'Government of Taijitu' Section on the main forum index - this is where our regional government operates from. As a citizen, you can vote on regional matters in the Ecclesia, or you can run for government office and join the Tholos (of course, I recommend you get a little experience in the forum before doing this).

Are you excited? I certainly am. As you can see, our region is full of great opportunities and experiences for all nations, old and new. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by messaging me back, or join our region's chatroom and discuss - well, anything, I guess - with other members of the forum community. Feel free to introduce yourself in the chatroom as well - we won't bite!

All in all, I'd like to thank you again for joining our great region, and remind you to feel free to contact me at any time with any questions you might have.

Thanks!    

- [Citizen-Mentor Username]

2. After the new nation has been sent the Introductory Telegram by the Citizen-Mentor, the Citizen-Mentor is responsible for accurately answering any and all questions asked by the new nation, as well as greeting the new nation on the regional chatroom.

As shown, having Citizen-Mentors in Taijitu will greatly improve the activity levels of new forum members, as new nations will be encouraged to participate in the region more actively and will have a senior forum member to talk with and ask questions.

As you can see, if elected Citizen-Liaison of Taijitu, I will, to the best of my ability, introduce a variety of new programs and plans in the region that will help increase role play and world building opportunities, increase activity among members of the forum, and assure that all new members of the forum stay and become active, productive members of the Taijitu community.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I sincerely hope to gain your support in the upcoming Citizen-Liaison election. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to mention them!

Thanks,

- Orristania

[Myroria]

This is an excellent campaign thread, and your ideas for the worldbuilding community in particular are exciting to me. You have my vote in the coming election.

[AwesomeSaucer]

I am excited!  You have my vote!



(P. S. Quick question: who would you appoint as Citizen-Guide other than as a mentor (which you presumably apply for)?  Something like a RP Citizen-Guide, Technology Citizen-Guide, etc.)

[bigbaldben]

A well structured and logically sound plan - I am impressed. It's clear you've put a lot of time and thought into this.

Two questions came to mind as I read through...

First, Taijitu role play has - in my brief experience - two types of people. Those who RP slow and those who RP fast.  There are many reasons for both and all understandable.  This question may not even have an answer, but how do you keep the overly hyper RPers interest without alienating those who can't RP as often as they like?  Love to hear your thoughts on that.

Second, I think the success of your Citizen-Mentor idea is going to depend on brevity and personalization. Like "hey, I know you said you are into RP and we have one starting in this thread. We'd love love for you to join us!"  I know that starting in nationstates, reading the recruitment messages, reading the Citizen-Liason message, reading the "about role playing" thread, etc etc can be overwhelming.  So when I see another template more than a few paragraphs long, my head starts to hurt. I think Citizen-Mentors should focus on the individual nations rather than have another long document of all the many (overwhelming) options of Taijitu.  Do you have any thoughts on that?  Maybe you are saying the same and I'm just misinterpreting?

Regardless, your ideas sound great and I'm looking forward to your efforts in world building, if elected! 

[Delfos]

[The Church of Satan]

I like your enthusiasm and you clearly have a plan. Be sure you're ready to put in the work though. I speak from experience when I say it's very easy for a new person to bite off more than they can chew. Don't be afraid to ask others for assistance. Remember, we're all in this together. I believe you may very well have my vote.

[Orristania]

Hi, everyone!

Thank you to Myroria, AwesomeSaucer, bigbaldben, Delfos, and the Church of Satan for the kind words. They mean a lot to me!

To answer bigbaldben's questions:

First, Taijitu role play has - in my brief experience - two types of people. Those who RP slow and those who RP fast.  There are many reasons for both and all understandable.  This question may not even have an answer, but how do you keep the overly hyper RPers interest without alienating those who can't RP as often as they like?  Love to hear your thoughts on that.

As I said, if elected, I will introduce multiple RPs to both the Modern and Pre-Modern Era Fiction boards. While some of the RPs (like the Olympics) will be structured and have a specific order in which events are held, others (such as the World Fair) will be more free and laid-back. For structured events, like the Olympics, I would definitely make sure that all who want to participate would be given enough time to do so at each event, in order to assure slow RPers that they can still get the full experience. Meanwhile, more laid-back events such as the World Fair would be open indefinitely to happy-go-lucky role playing, so players of all RP activity levels would be able to attend whichever events/pavilions they want to, whenever they want to, regardless of how many they want to.

Second, I think the success of your Citizen-Mentor idea is going to depend on brevity and personalization. Like "hey, I know you said you are into RP and we have one starting in this thread. We'd love love for you to join us!"  I know that starting in nationstates, reading the recruitment messages, reading the Citizen-Liason message, reading the "about role playing" thread, etc etc can be overwhelming.  So when I see another template more than a few paragraphs long, my head starts to hurt. I think Citizen-Mentors should focus on the individual nations rather than have another long document of all the many (overwhelming) options of Taijitu.  Do you have any thoughts on that?  Maybe you are saying the same and I'm just misinterpreting?

You make a good point in saying that that the telegram template I introduced may be too extensive and impersonal. However, when a nation joins the region, we usually don't know what their specific interests are at the time, so it is vital that we gain and maintain their interest in the region by introducing all of our opportunities and seeing which ones they like best. Generally, new nations don't already know which parts of NationStates they will be interested in, so we really do have to show them what we've got in order to see what they specifically want to do.

However, I do agree that the telegram might be too long, and so for the final version, I will try to cut it down a little and take your other suggestions into account. If you have any other specific changes that you would make, I would love to hear them!

[AwesomeSaucer]

Second, I think the success of your Citizen-Mentor idea is going to depend on brevity and personalization. Like "hey, I know you said you are into RP and we have one starting in this thread. We'd love love for you to join us!"  I know that starting in nationstates, reading the recruitment messages, reading the Citizen-Liason message, reading the "about role playing" thread, etc etc can be overwhelming.  So when I see another template more than a few paragraphs long, my head starts to hurt. I think Citizen-Mentors should focus on the individual nations rather than have another long document of all the many (overwhelming) options of Taijitu.  Do you have any thoughts on that?  Maybe you are saying the same and I'm just misinterpreting?

I think you have a point.  I think a better idea would be to slim down the message itself and focus more on the Citizen-Mentor answering any questions that the new nation has.  How would this happen?  Perhaps IRC is the best option; Skype could also work.  Telegrams are OK, but they might take too long to respond, especially if a Citizen-Mentor is responsible for more than one nation.

I propose a "Welcome to Taijitu" IRC speech for all new nations.  Perhaps the telegram could be slimmed down, and a message is added to the bottom or top of the telegram that tells the new nation to join a private IRC room with only the new nation and his/her Mentor, where the Mentor walks the new nation through all the ins and outs of Taijitu; completely live, and 1-on-1.  Or something like that.  It's completely up to the Citizen-Liaison to decide how this works, obviously; I just wanted to throw an idea in the ring.

[Orristania]

Second, I think the success of your Citizen-Mentor idea is going to depend on brevity and personalization. Like "hey, I know you said you are into RP and we have one starting in this thread. We'd love love for you to join us!"  I know that starting in nationstates, reading the recruitment messages, reading the Citizen-Liason message, reading the "about role playing" thread, etc etc can be overwhelming.  So when I see another template more than a few paragraphs long, my head starts to hurt. I think Citizen-Mentors should focus on the individual nations rather than have another long document of all the many (overwhelming) options of Taijitu.  Do you have any thoughts on that?  Maybe you are saying the same and I'm just misinterpreting?

I think you have a point.  I think a better idea would be to slim down the message itself and focus more on the Citizen-Mentor answering any questions that the new nation has.  How would this happen?  Perhaps IRC is the best option; Skype could also work.  Telegrams are OK, but they might take too long to respond, especially if a Citizen-Mentor is responsible for more than one nation.

I propose a "Welcome to Taijitu" IRC speech for all new nations.  Perhaps the telegram could be slimmed down, and a message is added to the bottom or top of the telegram that tells the new nation to join a private IRC room with only the new nation and his/her Mentor, where the Mentor walks the new nation through all the ins and outs of Taijitu; completely live, and 1-on-1.  Or something like that.  It's completely up to the Citizen-Liaison to decide how this works, obviously; I just wanted to throw an idea in the ring.

Great point, AwesomeSaucer. I can see why talking to the new nations on IRC instead of through telegram can be more personal and effective. How about the Citizen-Mentor invites the new nation to IRC and opens a private chat in order to explain how the region works instead of using a telegram? The Mentor could use some sort of semi-scripted explanation based off of the telegram template I provided to introduce the new nation to the region, with, of course, the main difference being that the new nation is encouraged to ask questions and give input on his/her interests, favorite parts of the forum, etc throughout the different parts of the introduction.

[AwesomeSaucer]

Second, I think the success of your Citizen-Mentor idea is going to depend on brevity and personalization. Like "hey, I know you said you are into RP and we have one starting in this thread. We'd love love for you to join us!"  I know that starting in nationstates, reading the recruitment messages, reading the Citizen-Liason message, reading the "about role playing" thread, etc etc can be overwhelming.  So when I see another template more than a few paragraphs long, my head starts to hurt. I think Citizen-Mentors should focus on the individual nations rather than have another long document of all the many (overwhelming) options of Taijitu.  Do you have any thoughts on that?  Maybe you are saying the same and I'm just misinterpreting?

I think you have a point.  I think a better idea would be to slim down the message itself and focus more on the Citizen-Mentor answering any questions that the new nation has.  How would this happen?  Perhaps IRC is the best option; Skype could also work.  Telegrams are OK, but they might take too long to respond, especially if a Citizen-Mentor is responsible for more than one nation.

I propose a "Welcome to Taijitu" IRC speech for all new nations.  Perhaps the telegram could be slimmed down, and a message is added to the bottom or top of the telegram that tells the new nation to join a private IRC room with only the new nation and his/her Mentor, where the Mentor walks the new nation through all the ins and outs of Taijitu; completely live, and 1-on-1.  Or something like that.  It's completely up to the Citizen-Liaison to decide how this works, obviously; I just wanted to throw an idea in the ring.

Great point, AwesomeSaucer. I can see why talking to the new nations on IRC instead of through telegram can be more personal and effective. How about the Citizen-Mentor invites the new nation to IRC and opens a private chat in order to explain how the region works instead of using a telegram? The Mentor could use some sort of semi-scripted explanation based off of the telegram template I provided to introduce the new nation to the region, with, of course, the main difference being that the new nation is encouraged to ask questions and give input on his/her interests, favorite parts of the forum, etc throughout the different parts of the introduction.

Works for me!

[The Church of Satan]

Mentors could just write their own telegram for the people they are mentoring. Every mentor program I've been a part of in NS functions that way so the success (or lack thereof) depends largely on the mentor. It also allows mentors to personalize each telegram and gradually tailor it to the needs of each individual. What do you think about that Orristania?

[Orristania]

Mentors could just write their own telegram for the people they are mentoring. Every mentor program I've been a part of in NS functions that way so the success (or lack thereof) depends largely on the mentor. It also allows mentors to personalize each telegram and gradually taylor it to the needs of each individual. What do you think about that Orristania?

I agree that the Mentors should certainly be able to personalize their individual mentoring style. In the IRC introductions, of course, each Mentor will be able to individualize what specifically they say and explain to the nation that they are mentoring, though I will provide a general outline (based off of the telegram in the original post) to make sure that things don't get off-topic and all of the necessary information is included.

[Khem]

I very much support your campaign and the initiatives you are setting.

[Orristania]

Thanks, Khem!

[Orristania]

As the nominations are about to close, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me once more and encourage all of you to vote in the upcoming election!

Thanks!