Progressing Forward: Progressive Progress!

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Keep Moving Forward:

Progressive Progress!

After most of a term, where are we when it comes to our goals?  We already know that we've failed on our promise to rob His Majesty and give everyone all of His Grace's money, but where have we succeeded?

We promised to prioritize immigration by publicizing the issue and trying lots of new ideas.  This has been a huge priority for our government, and we've tackled it in a bunch of different ways.  We've tried different forms of advertising at different times, and kept an eye on what worked.  More on that later.  But before we could even accomplish this, we had to remake the entire immigration system!

Now and the first time, everything isn't hosted on a web-based form accessible to anyone with login information to the national website, but instead on a secure form accessible only to a few authorized people.  And we've begun tracking how the immigration process proceeds -- when and from where are we getting applications that are successful eventually, what is causing hiccups in the process, and how are things going generally?

We also conducted an experiment: we promoted Talossa with Reddit posts and short-form videos at the start of the term, then took a break in the middle of the term, then resumed.  And how about that: we saw healthy immigration at the start of the term, then zero after we stopped promotion, and then it's back to decent (but not great) levels again.

Now, obviously it's a good thing on its own that we rebuilt the immigration system to save time and energy, and that we are getting actual information back, and that we fixed a security hole with hundreds of people's private information, and that we ran a cool experiment.  But we need to concentrate now on putting this all to work and getting this machine running.  Let's introduce more people to this amazing thing that is Talossa!

We promised to update and support Infotecă, the people's immigration portal.  We accomplished this in a big way!  The entire thing has been overhauled.  Now it's not just a collection of dry statistics... it's now presented in a beautiful manner with an automatically generated summary at the top of the page.  It's still all of the people's information, but now it's even better.  And the best part is that it's still just the same amount of work for future governments: five minutes a month!



We promised to cut administrative red tape and reduce bureaucracy.  While we did okay here, we didn't succeed in making many permanent changes.  Our main success was fixing a bunch of blank spots and hiccups in the law with 67RZ10, as well as creating El List del Seneschal to actually organize everything and make it accessible to everyone (more on that one soon).

We also wanted to change the way the Cabinet works so that it's not bound by such rigid jobs, so that roles can instead be swapped around as needed in a more sensible way.  But this plan got a lot of push-back, and it's going to need more thinking on the best way to accomplish that fluidity.  Maybe there are better aspects to focus on?  Let us know your thinking!

We promised a fresh look at our web presence, making sure our online tools are being used in the best way possible.  And while we did take a look at it, our conclusion was that we think we might need to entirely rethink how we're approaching our web presence.  We'll talk more about this in the campaign, but it's 2026 and in a lot of ways we're still operating like it's 1996, focusing on this forum.  That's holding us back and it doesn't match the way a lot of people (most people?) are using the Internet today.  So before we make big changes, we want the people's vote of confidence.

We promised to make access to government infrastructure easier, promote a repository of useful files and images, and create starter kits for everyone to use.  Unfortunately, the two organizations which formed this term did not have any interest in this assistance.  We're going to continue to encourage everyone and we'll get this done!

We promised never to secretly block potential immigrants, and promised we would pass legislation to eliminate this government power.  The first bill of the term was a revamped Public Process Bill, 62RZ01!  That particular government power is completely gone and dead, and we won't let it return.

In fact, we did some other work to preserve the rights of the people.  Did you know that the Seneschal used to be able to make permanent laws as long as they were counter-signed by His Majesty?  It was an incredibly broad power, but it cut out almost the entire Ziu!  But thanks to 62RZ07, this power has been cut down to size.  Once the referendum passes, the Seneschal will only be able to make temporary laws that will automatically sunset after three months.  Emergencies and oversights happen, but if the Seneschal can't get the Ziu to agree to a law, then it will automatically be canceled.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Keep Moving Forward:

Maps in Your Hand!

We have cool Google Map overlays and a lot of people who have been interested in cantons right down to the ground, but there's no good map anyone could print.  We should change that and get together a high-quality image of our national territory, with overseas possessions inset, and make it beautiful and well-marked with specific cultural landmarks.  It would be something else to put up at our embassies.

A good map does something that no amount of text can do -- it makes a place feel like a place. Right now, if you want to see Greater Talossan Area geography, you're pulling up a Google Maps overlay on your phone and zooming around. That's fine for utility, but it doesn't hang on a wall. It doesn't make someone say "wait, what is this?" when they see it framed at an embassy or pinned up in someone's apartment. We need a proper cartographic product -- something with the provinces clearly delineated, key landmarks labeled, the overseas possessions inset in the corner, maybe even some Talossan-language labels for the major features. Something that looks like it belongs in an atlas, because Talossa belongs in an atlas.

And this is another one of those projects where the investment pays off in different ways.  The map goes on the embassy wall. It goes in a press kit. It goes on talossa.com as a downloadable PDF. It's one more piece of real, tangible Talossan material culture -- something you can hold in your hands that says "this is a real country with real geography and people who care enough to make beautiful things about it." We've got citizens who have poured years of love into the canton-level detail of this territory. Let's turn that love into something everyone can see!

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Keep Moving Forward:

A New Face for Talossa!

Forum-based communities have been declining across the internet for twenty years. Wittenberg is the heart of Talossan civic life, but the forum format has real limitations for attracting and retaining new members. New citizens face a wall of historical context, inside references, and ongoing debates into which they have no point of entry.  The official unofficial Discord has been a fun side community -- we should look into how we can integrate it (or an equivalent) into our civic life.  It turns out that saying "hi" on Discord is a first step some people like more than a forum post.

The data backs this up. We know that Wittenberg activity correlates with immigration applications, and we know that ghosting during the naturalization window is our biggest bottleneck. People drop off because they lose momentum, and momentum is easier to maintain when you can just pop into a Discord channel and see people talking than when you have to navigate a forum thread with six months of context you missed. Discord isn't a replacement for Wittenberg -- the Cosa isn't going to debate legislation in a chat room. But Discord can be where someone wanders in, says "hey, what's Talossa," and gets a human response in ten minutes.

We also need to be honest about what the forum format costs us in terms of the kind of citizen we attract. Right now, we self-select for people who are already comfortable with forums -- and that's an increasingly narrow slice of the internet-literate population. Plenty of people who would make great Talossans, who would write laws and learn the language and run for office, never get past the first look at Wittenberg because the format itself feels like homework. Let's broaden our horizons a little!

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Keep Moving Forward:

Embassies on the Ground!

As part of our "try a lot of new things" initiative, we want to try to create real enclaves of Talossa.  By the end of next term, we want three real Talossan embassies in three countries.  We're talking flags, signed commissions from His Majesty on display, and a placard with more information.  Give people something real to make Talossa feel more real, and we'll get people with more earnest interest.  If we record audio versions of La C'hronica, we can even have a soundtrack!

Think about what it means when someone walks into a coffee shop in Zürich or a pub in Melbourne and there's a Talossan flag on the wall with a royal commission next to it. That's not a website. That's not a forum post. That's a real thing in a real place, and it makes people stop and ask questions. Every single one of those conversations is worth more than a hundred Reddit ads, because the person asking is already curious!

The audio La C'hronica angle is also bigger than just ambiance for an embassy, too. Right now our newspaper is a text document that maybe forty people read. An audio version turns it into something you can listen to on a commute, something you can share with a friend who would never click a forum link but might listen to a five-minute podcast-style recording. It's another surface area for contact with people who don't know we exist yet. And if we're already recording audio, we can clip highlights for social media, for the embassy playlist, or for whatever else we come up with.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

L'Chronica

La C'hronică

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Thanks!  I got it stuck in my head the other way for some reason, and now I keep making that mistake.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Thanks!  I got it stuck in my head the other way for some reason, and now I keep making that mistake.

You know who originally used to spell it that way? The guy who was its original editor, ESB

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Thanks!  I got it stuck in my head the other way for some reason, and now I keep making that mistake.

You know who originally used to spell it that way? The guy who was its original editor, ESB

Do you think that's where I got it from?  Maybe.  Sometimes when you see a word for the first time, it sticks that way.

I was hanging out with a friend the other night, and she told me that equaniminous isn't a word.  It's "equanimity" but "equanimous," without the extra syllable.  But I can't get my head around it.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I've already gotten a few messages about embassies, so let me say right now that this project is in its early stage, and it's not the first time we've done this.  There have been a couple of embassies in the past, and it's been pretty great.

Generally speaking, we'll be looking for places that are:

• open to the public, so people have a chance to see the embassy display
• owned or operated by someone who is either Talossan or has a personal connection with a Talossan
• in keeping with our public image

But wow, already loving the enthusiasm!

[Iason Taiwos]

I've already gotten a few messages about embassies, so let me say right now that this project is in its early stage, and it's not the first time we've done this.  There have been a couple of embassies in the past, and it's been pretty great.

Generally speaking, we'll be looking for places that are:

• open to the public, so people have a chance to see the embassy display
• owned or operated by someone who is either Talossan or has a personal connection with a Talossan
• in keeping with our public image

But wow, already loving the enthusiasm!

There's an embassy display? What would that consist of?
Our Salem, Ohio embassy has thus far been an embassy in name only, sadly. It is a legitimate local business (Nerdy Necessities), owned and operated by a Talossan citizen (Vitxalmour Conductour). There have been plans to install a Talossan flag and leave promotional literature by the cash register, but that has not yet come to fruition. (Give us a break, real life has been stressful for both of us in the last few months.) From what Vitx tells me, a lot of his regular customers would be perfect potential Talossans, but he hasn't had time to properly promote our Kingdom. By now we had hoped to build an entire local community of Ohio Talossans, but it hasn't happened. He runs the store and a website by himself, and I've been working 12 hour shifts in the bathtub factory for the past nine months.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

There's an embassy display? What would that consist of?
Our Salem, Ohio embassy has thus far been an embassy in name only, sadly. It is a legitimate local business (Nerdy Necessities), owned and operated by a Talossan citizen (Vitxalmour Conductour). There have been plans to install a Talossan flag and leave promotional literature by the cash register, but that has not yet come to fruition. (Give us a break, real life has been stressful for both of us in the last few months.) From what Vitx tells me, a lot of his regular customers would be perfect potential Talossans, but he hasn't had time to properly promote our Kingdom. By now we had hoped to build an entire local community of Ohio Talossans, but it hasn't happened. He runs the store and a website by himself, and I've been working 12 hour shifts in the bathtub factory for the past nine months.

We've had a few embassies in the past, but none right now.  @Bråneu Excelsio, UrN 's coffee shop was one for a while, and Hooligan's Super Bar and Napoleon's (a wargaming store) were both basically embassies (if not officially).  We'd be operating under the more recent rules instituted for Braneu with 58RZ20.

We'd love to get you guys as an embassy too!  We will send you leaflets to put out!

And while I have you, nudge Vitx to come here and just tell us (anywhere!  any thread!  even just a PM to me!) that he recruited you so that I can send you the PMPA medal!