Post by Fantasma Izquierdo on Jul 22, 2019 4:40:32 GMT
I’m Fantasma Izquierdo (better known as Ghost) and I have decided to run for the office of Minister of Immigration. This is actually an area I have some knowledge of, having done the same role in TVF and performing many of the same duties across several positions in TNP. No matter where you are, immigration is crucial to the success of a region, as our players are our lifeblood and without them all of these impressive things we have built mean nothing and serve no purpose.
Responsiveness to Players
I feel that recently efforts in immigration have failed to meet the challenges of these times. SLU is stable but at a crossroads, and if we take active measures now to boost population growth and enhance outreach, the region will thrive and we will see ourselves through what is proving to be a challenging summer across the game. This means not only keeping up with the day to day needs of the office and keeping our member rosters current, but ensuring that communication never ceases as we also continue to bring in new faces. The follow-up is just as important as the telegrams that invite players to join, and once they arrive the biggest factor in whether or not their immigration is a success is whether or not they feel welcome and at home, and find something to do to keep their interest. Every player has different criteria determining that, and figuring out what they are and appealing to them is crucial if we are to maintain their commitment to the region. I consider this the biggest opportunity for synergy between this ministry and the others, most significantly domestic affairs.
Synergy
The information that the immigration ministry can gather through conversation and outreach during the recruitment process would prove invaluable to the efforts of domestic affairs and ensure they can better develop programs and initiatives to keep players hooked and excited about being residents and member states. I hope to develop procedures and programs that can gather that data and make us a more present and useful resource to newcomers, so that our job doesn’t and at updating lists and replying to telegrams. If these efforts are successful, they can also form the building blocks of future administrations’ immigration policy, and be a guide that keeps the ministry functioning at a higher level for the foreseeable future.
I believe we can achieve this through a robust mentorship program, one that doesn’t rely on partnering specific people with specific new players, but involves all recruiters keeping an eye on who is coming through the proverbial door and engaging in conversation with them. The collective experiences these recruiters have would form the basis of our data collection, so we can recognize patterns and work with domestic affairs to determine which activities or plans can appeal to the types of players we are attracting. We can also modify the telegrams to anticipate these needs and avoid common pitfalls or points of confusion that occur when players arrive.
Immigration is effectively the region’s scouting force as much as it is the gatekeeper. We shouldn’t just blast the world for new players, we should be ready and willing to invite specific promising individuals we come across. If manual recruitment is a more personal but difficult method, we should save that type of effort for very special or promising players, not just new players indistinguishable from the kind we find with stamps but who we decide to personalize a telegram for. If the approach I want to take is successful, what we learn can make us even better at our general outreach and also our engagement with the special caliber of player we hope to approach. This, of course, always has to be done with respect to existing treaties and rules about recruiting from existing communities. And of course, we cannot reinvent the wheel, and work with a limited set of tools and game mechanics. But there is a lot we can try with the way we utilize these tools, and instead of going for sheer numbers, we should be smarter about the communication we do engage in.
Recruiting from “Within”
Retention is probably more important to a region’s success than the initial recruiting, and I think it is something most regions, including ours, treats as an afterthought. My work in TNP means that I deal exclusively in member retention, and if that approach is going to pay dividends, I will be able to capitalize on that experience. I have done pure recruitment as well, thanks to my experience in TVF, and we will have to keep doing that, but at the risk of repeating myself, we have to know what to do with the people we bring in. Too often the ministries miss out on opportunities to work together, and operating in concert would maximize the efficacy of all of their work. Recruiting from without is the primary duty of this ministry, but recruiting from within is not only as important as I have previously indicated, but arguably more important. Domestic Affairs tends to do the brunt of this work, by giving people things to do and taking the lead in activities. But there’s a gap between these activities, and I believe immigration can fill that gap.
Whether or not there are specific activities or evens going on, there is always something to do. Players need to be reminded and invited, and so often these players we have in our region are unnecessarily apart from the rest of us who are more present and engaged, particularly in Discord. My experience in TNP includes a lot of efforts to continually engage those players even when there aren’t specific DA initiatives to point to. We need to treat this as an untapped source of players, one that should be easier to build from, since we already did the hard work of getting them into SLU in the first place. Our new delegate has made developing the day to day opportunities for more players to get involved a core part of his platform, and I believe immigration can do a lot to support this effort and lead the horses to water, so to speak.
Immigration needs more than a couple of people, because the region needs to avoid being at the mercy of the timing and scheduling of two people. Combined with Courelli’s efforts at enhancing the regions civil service, immigration can do a lot with a team of people all contributing a little bit of their time and energy on a consistent basis. This means more than just having API functionality, it means eyes and ears on the ground and abroad and more people to contribute and gather data and refine our tools and telegrams. Growth is a consistent challenge, and there is no reason immigration couldn’t be working tirelessly day in and day out, in lean times and times of plenty. I can see clearly what this ministry can be, and the crucial role it will play in the region’s future. We have time to build up and reach a new frontier, and the time to act is now. I hope you agree with this vision, and will do me the honor of electing me to see it through. I am available for your questions and feedback, and would be happy to explore some of these points at greater length should you require it.
Addendum:
To be clearer than my platform may have been, I am involved in the regions of TVF, where I serve as Speaker, and TNP, where I serve as Minister of Communications and a member of the Security Council. I also retain citizenship in DSA and Spiritus.
Responsiveness to Players
I feel that recently efforts in immigration have failed to meet the challenges of these times. SLU is stable but at a crossroads, and if we take active measures now to boost population growth and enhance outreach, the region will thrive and we will see ourselves through what is proving to be a challenging summer across the game. This means not only keeping up with the day to day needs of the office and keeping our member rosters current, but ensuring that communication never ceases as we also continue to bring in new faces. The follow-up is just as important as the telegrams that invite players to join, and once they arrive the biggest factor in whether or not their immigration is a success is whether or not they feel welcome and at home, and find something to do to keep their interest. Every player has different criteria determining that, and figuring out what they are and appealing to them is crucial if we are to maintain their commitment to the region. I consider this the biggest opportunity for synergy between this ministry and the others, most significantly domestic affairs.
Synergy
The information that the immigration ministry can gather through conversation and outreach during the recruitment process would prove invaluable to the efforts of domestic affairs and ensure they can better develop programs and initiatives to keep players hooked and excited about being residents and member states. I hope to develop procedures and programs that can gather that data and make us a more present and useful resource to newcomers, so that our job doesn’t and at updating lists and replying to telegrams. If these efforts are successful, they can also form the building blocks of future administrations’ immigration policy, and be a guide that keeps the ministry functioning at a higher level for the foreseeable future.
I believe we can achieve this through a robust mentorship program, one that doesn’t rely on partnering specific people with specific new players, but involves all recruiters keeping an eye on who is coming through the proverbial door and engaging in conversation with them. The collective experiences these recruiters have would form the basis of our data collection, so we can recognize patterns and work with domestic affairs to determine which activities or plans can appeal to the types of players we are attracting. We can also modify the telegrams to anticipate these needs and avoid common pitfalls or points of confusion that occur when players arrive.
Immigration is effectively the region’s scouting force as much as it is the gatekeeper. We shouldn’t just blast the world for new players, we should be ready and willing to invite specific promising individuals we come across. If manual recruitment is a more personal but difficult method, we should save that type of effort for very special or promising players, not just new players indistinguishable from the kind we find with stamps but who we decide to personalize a telegram for. If the approach I want to take is successful, what we learn can make us even better at our general outreach and also our engagement with the special caliber of player we hope to approach. This, of course, always has to be done with respect to existing treaties and rules about recruiting from existing communities. And of course, we cannot reinvent the wheel, and work with a limited set of tools and game mechanics. But there is a lot we can try with the way we utilize these tools, and instead of going for sheer numbers, we should be smarter about the communication we do engage in.
Recruiting from “Within”
Retention is probably more important to a region’s success than the initial recruiting, and I think it is something most regions, including ours, treats as an afterthought. My work in TNP means that I deal exclusively in member retention, and if that approach is going to pay dividends, I will be able to capitalize on that experience. I have done pure recruitment as well, thanks to my experience in TVF, and we will have to keep doing that, but at the risk of repeating myself, we have to know what to do with the people we bring in. Too often the ministries miss out on opportunities to work together, and operating in concert would maximize the efficacy of all of their work. Recruiting from without is the primary duty of this ministry, but recruiting from within is not only as important as I have previously indicated, but arguably more important. Domestic Affairs tends to do the brunt of this work, by giving people things to do and taking the lead in activities. But there’s a gap between these activities, and I believe immigration can fill that gap.
Whether or not there are specific activities or evens going on, there is always something to do. Players need to be reminded and invited, and so often these players we have in our region are unnecessarily apart from the rest of us who are more present and engaged, particularly in Discord. My experience in TNP includes a lot of efforts to continually engage those players even when there aren’t specific DA initiatives to point to. We need to treat this as an untapped source of players, one that should be easier to build from, since we already did the hard work of getting them into SLU in the first place. Our new delegate has made developing the day to day opportunities for more players to get involved a core part of his platform, and I believe immigration can do a lot to support this effort and lead the horses to water, so to speak.
Immigration needs more than a couple of people, because the region needs to avoid being at the mercy of the timing and scheduling of two people. Combined with Courelli’s efforts at enhancing the regions civil service, immigration can do a lot with a team of people all contributing a little bit of their time and energy on a consistent basis. This means more than just having API functionality, it means eyes and ears on the ground and abroad and more people to contribute and gather data and refine our tools and telegrams. Growth is a consistent challenge, and there is no reason immigration couldn’t be working tirelessly day in and day out, in lean times and times of plenty. I can see clearly what this ministry can be, and the crucial role it will play in the region’s future. We have time to build up and reach a new frontier, and the time to act is now. I hope you agree with this vision, and will do me the honor of electing me to see it through. I am available for your questions and feedback, and would be happy to explore some of these points at greater length should you require it.
Addendum:
To be clearer than my platform may have been, I am involved in the regions of TVF, where I serve as Speaker, and TNP, where I serve as Minister of Communications and a member of the Security Council. I also retain citizenship in DSA and Spiritus.