Posted by Adam W. in Observation and questions for all candidates

Posted by Scarlet Olivia in Observation and questions for all candidates
I know that there are going to be plenty of people who leap up and do their darnedest to go ‘Scarlet you are wrong, boooooo’ but I’ve noticed something.

So far all I have seen is one candidate going and saying what they would like to change, what they see is broken and every other candidate doing their darndest to say ‘nothing is broken, nothing to see here, move along’. Then I see the current Prez and VP leap in and have their hackles raised, politely of course, but do their best to prove that the one candidate who would like to change things is either, making accusations or is ‘wrong’ or something along those lines. Everyone is trying so darned hard to make it sound like things are running smoothly, that there needs to be no changes or anything of the sort that it has me highly suspicious. I’m the kind of person who starts questioning when people seem to be leaping in to all sing the same song save for the one person those singing the same tune are singing as loud as they can to drown out.

Let’s review some of the things we’ve said so far, shall we?

The Personnel Department is not running like it should be and its been like that nearly the last year. As far as I can tell, we haven’t had more than two people playing a significant role in that department since last August. And there have been times it has been one, and no matter who that one is that isn’t going to work out well. Responsiveness is the name of the game in that department. Now, for much of this term I was a big part in making that department as responsive as possible considering there were only two people fully trained to contribute. But the “only two people” part of that needs to be fixed. It was an issue on Daniel’s radar that he did put effort into fixing this term. But we didn’t end up quite getting there and I’ll be keeping a close eye on this throughout this term. Maybe that means pushing others to get us up and running or maybe it means recruiting staff there or training the staff myself. I’m planning on taking the needed action.

The Mentorship Program has been mostly ignored. This term it was moved from the Personnel Department to the Academy, where it makes more sense anyhow. A current list of mentors to assign to mentor-requesting people entering the club does not exist. It hasn’t existed all term. Right now the Commandant is working on creating that list once again. There needs to be training and accountability for our mentors from the Academy staff to get this program functioning and an active Mentors Coordinator. That will be a challenge the Academy will be facing, and the President needs to be aware of the support the Academy may need as they tackle it.

The Command Mentorship Program is something I don’t think most people know exists, especially those who actually would benefit from it. I helped lay the groundwork for this program, and it’s still in place. This just needs to be advertised so members know they can get personal mentorship to learn to be a DH, an XO, or a CO.

I brought up that our cabinet needs to have good judgment, be present, and be competent. While we do have some cabinet members ticking all those boxes now, there’s always room for improvement. And that’s improvement we’re planning on making by choosing cabinet members who meet those criteria. We’ll lead them by example by demonstrating the qualities we expect from our leaders.

Those are not only changes, they are changes that make the club better. I think the changes we’re after will walk the line of being significant enough to make a difference and attainable enough to realistically possible. If you’re looking for a remaining ticket that will take enough action to make improvements I feel that is ours.

Worse, when the current elected individuals get in and seem to do the same stuff. Makes me wonder what has people so afraid that they want to stamp down this one individual voice. I don’t really get the agenda, I know there is one and I know denial is going to be quick. Before anyone leaps at me and says I am making accusations, I’m not, I am just voicing something that seems to be a way and weather someone thinks I am right or wrong is their opinion, just as this is mine. It seemed to me, as the election only had one candidate till almost the deadline, that people threw in just to make things go slowly. As if last minute, people drew straws and then signed up. The only times I have ever seen a concentrated will to move an election is when TJ ran. He was a uniting force that got everyone involved in a rally and his absence? Creates a ponderous cycle where old faces plod in just to fill a slot and younger people or people new to the politics just try to give it a shot.

Not how this happened and almost at the deadline is a bit of an exaggeration. I first realized my life could work out in mid-June that I could run for President this term if I wanted to. I was traveling out of state when the election started I didn’t have the benefit of knowing for certain I could run, so my entry was a couple days later. I wanted to hit the ground running after we had thoroughly discussed and carefully considered our goals and I believe we did just that. Running a hastily thrown together campaign was not something I had an interest in.

I was no fan of TJ, but that man was great at getting elections active and getting everyone involved. I actually miss that, the elections he was involved in were always memorable… So, my question is, what will the candidates do to bring back energy to this club? I have heard stories that in the Club’s heyday there were 300+ people, but we’ve dropped down to what, 90 people? Most of those people have circled the drain as the same faces in different positions over and over again. Every election, I see like, maybe twenty people every year. What are you guys planning to give new faces a chance to step in so those who have done the running of the government, over and over and over again can take a rest should they wish it?

Great question. Part of the problem is most of the new faces don’t have enough experience to feel comfortable serving in the cabinet. The key is to get some active people into the assistant roles, especially those who may not think of volunteering to try it but would be quite good. I made a couple suggestions of these sorts of people for the current administration. I’m already thinking of a couple of new people I think would be great to get plugged in as assistants this term that I intend to suggest.

As far as bringing back energy to the club, we’re already starting to see that with the effort being put into community events. The execs need to support that effort as it’ll be key in making this a place people want to join and don’t want to leave.

Also, how as Prez will you have your VP active? From where I sit, the VP is largely known, but mostly unseen. I am sure there is a lot of stuff behind the scenes, but they largely do nothing unless the Prez cannot. So how will things be different with you and how are you planning to make them your partner so that you share the load and weather the stupidity we all know comes with a government position? I’m curious to know more about what the heck a VP does and how things will be different with yours, unless as usual there is nothing and no reason to change anything at all?

—Scarlet

As VP I wrote the instructions now on the Academy MOTD for the Command Mentorship Program. I promoted that program. I helped by reviewing and writing posts and e-mails. I moderated Command. I made news feed posts. I helped prioritize the President’s to-do list when she got swamped by life. I spent a lot of time investigating major issues with the Academy and encouraging those who needed it and fielding their complaints, and relaying everything back to the President. I kept an eye an the activity level in different parts of the club and helped address issues. I ended up signing up to staff the Academy, which needed to get back on track at the time. And I discussed all sorts of things with the President that she needed to decide on. That’s what’s coming to me off the top of my head anyhow. In a nutshell I did what was needed to help the President achieve objectives and deal with the issues that popped up.

I see Thomas doing the same sorts of tasks that I did for Linds. He will be active, which I think you can tell by reading this board. I have been very impressed by how much time he puts in, including with effort put in behind the scenes. He brings wisdom and experience and expertise in different aspects of the club than I have. We’ve been helping each other by making what the other person writes better, and I’m sure that will continue when tricky situations to deal with pop up. He’s great at looking at the big picture and sometimes he’ll bring up a key point I hadn’t thought of. I think we’ll make a great team.

Thanks for the excellent questions.

Adam
Adam W / Thomas B

Hi Scarlet, I’m going to add my thoughts since it looks like you’re looking for feedback from the VP part of the ticket as well.

I think that you’re mistaken when you say that there was only one ticket advocating for change in the club. I would invite you to take a look at some of our other campaign posts, where we outline substantial improvements to the way that MAC works in a continuance of the Community Organizer discussion, where we discuss changes that need to be made to the Personnel Department to modernize its practices in the age of Exodus, and others. I don’t think that’s equivalent to doing nothing. Actually, in any other election those would probably be seen as pretty contentious and major.

I would also point out that, as two candidates who have been with this club through specific and tangible big problems, the current status of the club is much more stable than it has been in the past few years. We just came off of the Exodus switch, literally the largest change the club has seen in over ten years, no worse for ware. That’s a big accomplishment. None of the departments are currently experiencing near-disaster-level shortages, which was not true a few years ago. You have to reach a place of stability to start growing again, that is why we consider the MAC changes so important to codify - to facilitate that growth. Is the club perfect? No. Do we need to catastrophize and run around like the place is burning down? No. We need to be proactive and thoughtful, not reactive and panicky.

I think that when one ticket is proposing major, dramatic changes, the other tickets tend to look much more subdued than they actually are. The reality is, a Presidential term is eight months, and only about 5-6 of those months are usable to implement change effectively. It is not possible to have a laundry list of major projects, because only one or two of them will be accomplished, assuming a measured and moderated Command process with an agreeable membership. Most administrations - I would almost say all since I’ve been here - end up being single-issue. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as that single issue is handled well and is focused on doing meaningful work for the club. I would prefer to have two or three accomplishable projects that benefit the club, than to have unrealistic goals result in broken promises on my campaign platform.

Not so long ago, I would have been the new person you’re talking about. New to the club, and thirsty to make change. I find it… Interesting that a newer generation of member puts me on the other side of that coin, as I don’t feel like that want to make change has gone anywhere. In fact, I have probably been part of, made or facilitated some of the most substantial changes to the club in the past decade. I think you’ll find that a lot of those changes have made the club much more accessible to new members.

I used to have very similar feelings about old faces running over and over again. Here’s the reality: the only thing stopping new people from running is themselves. Adam and I have probably the most progressive stance in the election when it comes to staffing. See our post here (https://www.star-fleet.com/core/command/election/notes/2260/) where we talk specifically about staffing for people who are present and engaged, and not just asking, “whose done this job before?”

When I ran for President, I had only been in the club a few years. I am sure that there were people who didn’t vote for me because I was too new. I know that when I got my first CO spot, there were people concerned that I was too new for it. Did I let that stop me from applying, running, or doing those things? No. In fact, I think my own anxiety about being new and trying was way more than what other people actually had.

Something that I was surprised by when I was in my first administration is how few people actually apply to government positions in this club. This has been several years ago, but my experience was similar when trying to find people for TECH. You get maybe one or two applications if you’re lucky. There were times when I got no applications for positions, and had to actively search out and persuade people into taking the spots. When it comes to filling senior positions like QDir/FComm, you’re looking for a balance of time contributable, experience, and engagement. There isn’t an exact ratio. Someone can have less experience, but with good engagement and time commitment, and the ability and desire to learn, one can do very well. That, in fact, is exactly why I ended up in my first senior government position as Internet Director. I think you’ll find from our Staffing post that we don’t see that ratio as an exact formula. I come from the philosophy that if people are engaged, able ask questions, and able to contribute time, they will probably do well in any position here in the club.

As far as bringing energy into the club, that is probably our most pronounced campaign issue - the MAC changes. I, personally, am very invested in seeing those changes codified and put into practice as Linds is doing now. I believe very firmly that in order to grow, we have to have a community engagement that goes beyond ship-central writing. When people think back to their “hay day” memories, it’s the community events that they recount, most of all.

And as to how I would act as a VP - you can see a good example here. I think you would be very hard pressed to find someone in the club to describe me as “do nothing.” There are probably some people who think I’ve made changes that are too drastic. The Vice President isn’t the most visible person in the government. So far, I have modeled myself kind of how Kat acted as my VP. I saw Kat as an invaluable partner, we discussed everything at length, I asked for her guidance as someone with strong institutional memory, and she lead discussions that she held expertise on that I did not. I hold a similar institutional memory, have areas of expertise that complement Adam’s, and through the campaign we have operated largely as Kat and I did during my administration. With this knowledge, I would never equate a “quiet” VP to an absent one. I think that most people in the club know that I am opinionated and fairly strong willed - I don’t think you’ll see me sit silently for months at a time. When I have something to say, I generally say it. Though I am much more tactful than I used to be.

Thanks Scarlet, hope that helps,

-Thomas
–Adam W / Thomas B