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**Somyrion** · 01-04-2020, 12:32 AM

Greetings, fellow citizens of the South Pacific —

I’m Aumeltopia, or alternately Somyrion on our offsite platforms, and I’ve served as your World Assembly Delegate for the past six months. It has been a wonderful and enlightening experience, and I hope you all enjoyed that time in this amazing community as much as I did.

I wasn’t always a perfect Delegate; at times I didn’t manage to get up-to-date on endorsements after a busy weekday or I skipped reading up on the hundreds of new posts accumulated on the Regional Message Board. But that’s why there’s room for improvement.

I see the delegacy as a role not of leaps and bounds, but one of continuous upward motion. Things don’t always move in a straight line, and you can’t always make them come out as you planned— but you do have a responsibility to keep pushing upward. Always keep pushing upward. Excelsior, if you will. That’s the ethos I bring to the office of Delegate.

And so, TSPers, I’d like to ask to be your Delegate once again — because I believe that the continuous nature of that motion is important, and it is something I can and will provide. I have been honoured by all of your support throughout my delegacy, and I would be honoured to receive it again for another term of biscuits, endorsements, and continuous upward motion.

Your Delegate,

Aumeltopia

Now that I’ve waxed poetic a bit, here are some more specifics:

As the title says, I’ve learned some things. And I’ve learned some other things.

One of the things I’ve learned is that I wasn’t really able to stay completely on top of the RMB like I promised. (You guys got away from me once more!) But I’ve realized that as long as I trust the Local Councillors who are putting so much effort into moderating the RMB as part of their job, I don’t need to be doing that job for them. Six months ago, I was trying to be master of everything. But now, well, you could say I’ve mellowed out a bit.

That’s not to say I feel any less of a duty or an enjoyment of taking part in our Regional Message Board community— just that I’m not going to try to moderate it (or moderate the moderators!). The RMB is one of my natural homes, and I am adamant about making sure everything I do and say as delegate appears just as much there as anywhere else.

In fact, I’ve started consciously ensuring that anytime I post anything related to my role as Delegate on the RMB or Discord server — whether that’s a note about travelling or how I’m planning to vote on a GA resolution — I send it (or an appropriate version thereof) on the other platform as well. I’d like to extend this even beyond simple, factual notifications to include messages such as discussion questions about how to update the WFE, for example, or what information to include in a new dispatch. This may seem unexciting, but it is really the purest form of integration. The more people feel like they are “in the loop” and receiving the same information from the same network, the more they feel connected with others no matter the differences in platform.

Another thing I’ve learned is the importance of always keeping going on endorsements. The first part of the graph of my endorsement count was a period of some stagnation and decrease during the summer lull in the first few months. But we pulled together and pulled upwards, surpassing 630 endorsements — not a new record, but massive growth. While we didn’t meet our ambitious goal for December, I have full confidence that if we continue on this same path for another term, we will not take long to pass 660 and beyond. Just keep going. It’s… continuous upward motion, in its clearest form.

I’ve also learned that events like the Endorsement Days can be amazingly successful… if they come together. I’d like to propose to the Local Council and enlist them in more fun World Factbook Entry changes and themes; after all, four heads are better than one! I’d also like to refine the Endorsement Days schedule to once every two months, and now that the basic setup has been created, I’ll start them off from the very beginning of the term, so we don’t have such a long transition period.

A fourth thing I’ve learned is how much I enjoy taking on the challenge of the World Assembly, in all its different parts: voting on proposals, writing up recommendations, endorsing, and all the integration efforts it entails. In my campaign for Delegate six months ago, the World Assembly section was the shortest of all: that has clearly changed. I would be remiss not to mention the good work of my fellow candidate Concrete Slab in working tirelessly to bring our World Assembly scene into activity.

I firmly believe that, as one of the few hard-coded, immediately accessible parts of this game, the World Assembly offers an immense opportunity for involving players new and old.

So here’s my big WA goal for next term: a fully functioning SWAN-DIVE. That’s the SWAN Discussions and Information for Voter Education program. It would consist of, essentially, a formalized version of the WA Opinions dispatches I’ve been publishing periodically throughout the past term, plus forum threads and RMB posts for all WA votes, and potentially sponsored debates and talks with the Academy of the South Pacific program of the Ministry of Regional Affairs. It’s ideally a responsibility for a Minister of World Assembly Affairs, but until we sort out the Cabinet reforms currently being discussed in the Assembly, I will gladly spearhead an initiative as Delegate. No matter what happens, I will put my full efforts behind it.

Finally, I’ve learned just how important the Delegate is, merely as a greeter, directing new players to the appropriate guides or answering their questions about how to join the World Assembly. As Delegate, I’ve become used to having at least two new telegrams in my inbox every single morning — that’s something I really did not expect. I take responding to those telegrams very seriously, always trying to find the right balance of to-the-pointness, completeness, and levity. And at its heart, that’s what the Delegacy boils down to: a friendly but always straightforward face, a thoughtful but always open mind, and a strong but always willing heart. Add a biscuit, and there you have an Aumeltopia.

Gameside dispatch version: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1302267

Conflicts of Interest and History Disclosure

Questions?

~ Aumeltopia ~

Auphelia Wrote:Raccoons are bandits! First they steal your food . . .
and then your heart/identity!

(This post was last modified: 01-04-2020, 04:27 PM by Somyrion.)

**Seraph** · 01-04-2020, 04:06 AM

Nice to see the SWAN-DIVE acronym getting some love, even if it means something different now.

Founder of the Church of the South Pacific [Forum Thread] [Discord], a safe place to discuss spirituality for people of all faiths and none (currently looking for those interested in prayer and/or "home" groups);
And The Silicon Pens [Discord], a writer's group for the South Pacific and beyond!

Yahweo usenneo ir varleo, ihraneo jurlaweo hraseu seu, ir jiweveo arladi.

Salma 145:8

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Omega · 01-05-2020, 11:28 PM

NatSov or IntFed?

Above all else, I hope to be a decent person.
Has Been
What's Next?

CoA: August 2016-January 2017
Minister of Foreign Affairs: October 2019-June 2020, October 2020- February 2021

**Somyrion** · 01-05-2020, 11:47 PM

(01-05-2020, 11:28 PM)Omega Wrote: NatSov or IntFed?

Ooh, good question. I admit I haven't participated enough directly in the GA forums and discussions to have an established opinion, and I really don't know the history of either position (e.g. what resolutions/proposals have historically brought out the divides between the two). Based on a vague idea of national sovereignty and international federalism as they apply to the WA, I think I'd most likely lean towards a sort of international confederalism -- retaining national sovereignty for the most part, but not hesitating to legislate on any issues for which international action might be at all helpful or superior. Further research and education may prove me wrong, though!

I've also heard that the two positions have sort of died out in recent times, though I couldn't say why. We're not in a time of great IC debates on the gameplay or WA stage, it seems...

EDIT: And, of course, it's always important to mention that whatever my personal leanings may be, I will basically always follow the General Assembly vote of TSP's WA population (unless there's a really obvious reason why not to).

~ Aumeltopia ~

Auphelia Wrote:Raccoons are bandits! First they steal your food . . .
and then your heart/identity!

(This post was last modified: 01-05-2020, 11:52 PM by Somyrion.)

phoenixofthesun14 · 01-06-2020, 10:48 PM

OOH I HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE CANDIDATE! (a serious one, actually!)

Cake or Pie?

If you had to make a general "mission statement" for your Delegacy, what would it be and why? What ideologies would you stand for?

**Beepee** · 01-08-2020, 05:23 PM

I have a question for you Somyrion... if that even is your real name!?!?!?!!!! As you would expect this is a hard hitting and important question, too which the people demand an answer...

From your campaign, you've obviously been educating yourself, making you one of the most educated raccoons we've ever seen. But raccoons are generally still bottom feeders rooting around in the trash, eating stale salted crackers, and I see your penchant for biscuits and education has resulted you in becoming, unlike other candidates, very well rounded....

So my question is this, I was walking down the supermarket aisle yesterday as I was buying cat food.... how come there's no mouse flavoured cat food?

Check my links.....

SWAN 4 Life
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1086117

(This post was last modified: 01-08-2020, 05:30 PM by Beepee.)

**Somyrion** · 01-09-2020, 01:55 AM

(01-06-2020, 10:48 PM)phoenixofthesun14 Wrote: OOH I HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE CANDIDATE! (a serious one, actually!)

Cake or Pie?

If you had to make a general "mission statement" for your Delegacy, what would it be and why? What ideologies would you stand for?

1. Not cake or pie. Biscuits.

2. I'd say that my mission statement would be something along the lines of "To support, guide, and bring together all citizens and parts of the region through the pursuit of steady progress, while providing a stable and familiar base".

...Clearly I'm not any good at writing these things Tounge

I think that covers some of the major "ideologies" of my delegacy, even if only with broad strokes:

Fostering better communication across platforms
Continuous, but not radical, progress
Increased World Assembly engagement -- a type of progress which I hope can connect TSPers of all stripes
Military and Gameplay awareness and experience
Care for answering questions and guiding players

(01-08-2020, 05:23 PM)Beepee Wrote: I have a question for you Somyrion... if that even is your real name!?!?!?!!!! As you would expect this is a hard hitting and important question, too which the people demand an answer...

From your campaign, you've obviously been educating yourself, making you one of the most educated raccoons we've ever seen. But raccoons are generally still bottom feeders rooting around in the trash, eating stale salted crackers, and I see your penchant for biscuits and education has resulted you in becoming, unlike other candidates, very well rounded....

So my question is this, I was walking down the supermarket aisle yesterday as I was buying cat food.... how come there's no mouse flavoured cat food?

Cats are smart creatures. I knew this the moment I met the distinguished former legislator known as 'Sasha'.

As you have stated so flatteringly, I am an educated creature. And I like to eat biscuits. Very much so.

I have concluded that biscuits are, in fact, the cause of my intellectual skills' flourishing.

Now, if educated creatures like me like to eat biscuits and know that they are the superiorest diet this side of the great Raccoon in the Sky, and if cats are educated creatures just as raccoons are -- it necessarily follows that cats should like and benefit from eating biscuits just as much.

Upon reaching this conclusion, I immediately wrote out Absolutely Not Binding Delegate Proclamation #295: All supermarkets in the South Pacific shall henceforth only stock their shelves with biscuit or biscuit-flavoured feline comestibles.

That is why there is no mouse-flavoured cat food, my friend.

QED.

~ Aumeltopia ~

Auphelia Wrote:Raccoons are bandits! First they steal your food . . .
and then your heart/identity!

(This post was last modified: 01-09-2020, 01:56 AM by Somyrion.)

**Somyrion** · 01-09-2020, 10:46 PM

*stands outside the Government Island polling station, distributing biscuits to everyone who voted for me*

~ Aumeltopia ~

Auphelia Wrote:Raccoons are bandits! First they steal your food . . .
and then your heart/identity!