The idea of the "Starweaver's Cloud" is interesting! I'm curious to hear more about it; what exactly would it look like, in your eyes?

What infrastructure would you need to create and how would you help make sure that people feel like they can share feedback whilst not being looked down upon.

Are you talking about a forum thread on the site itself, discordside, or both?

The Skyweaver's Cloud is supposed to be the centerpiece of the infrastructure that I'm going to create. By "forum", I meant a Discord forum-style post of the same category as, for example, ⁠election-campaigns or ⁠election-nominations. Every Starborn would receive the opportunity to make their voice heard, and not only in threads of their own, but others, too; that way, we're guaranteeing full transparency, and the chance for every Starborn to participate in developing ideas further.
It would then, obviously, be up to the Skyweaver to ensure that ideas are being discussed respectfully - I don't expect a lot of cases of people lashing out, but when opinions differ, things can get heated.

This, of course, raises another very critical issue about this endeavor.

"What if I want to propose an idea, but I do not yet feel ready to share it with the world?"

The answer to this is simple: you don't have to!
People that do not yet feel ready to step into the limelight will not be forced to do so. In such a case, the idea would be discussed privately - most certainly in DMs - and from that point forward, there are two major ways to go about this:

Develop the idea together and encourage the Starborn to eventually post their idea, once it's fleshed out and considered more presentably by the Starborn.
If the Starborn decides they do not feel ready, and will not for the foreseeable future, I will offer to post the idea myself, keeping the Starborn anonymous. Credit would be given in a way that it is transparently noted that the idea has been brought forward from our community, and obviously, the Starborn can change their mind at any time, to discuss the idea on the forum.

In any case, if they come to the conclusion they do not want to have their idea discussed at all, for which ever reason, we're not going to. This is not going to be a "full commitment" kind of deal for anyone. I intend to lower the threshold, not raise them. That's incredibly important to me!

How would you go about doing this? Are there any specific ways you'd want to advise?

For the time being, the most important part of getting this done is by paying attention to the discussions brought to the table by the Triune Circle and the Aetherial Council. The Skyweaver must stay alert and keep an eye on how the government perceives the state of the community. That way, they can react to opinions and endeavors stated by TC and AC.

At the same time, I imagine the Skyweaver to be a point of contact not only for those trying to get their ideas heard, but also, their concerns. It would, obviously and ultimately, be up to the Skyweaver to assess the severity of said concerns, but they should be evaluated in any case, and especially when certain incidents and worries are being mentioned more than just once, this would absolutely be a point where the Skyweaver would have to interfere, and state towards TC and AC that, based on what they have gathered from the community, the situation should be discussed between TC, AC, and Skyweaver, to then make plans and take action.

It absolutely boils down to the Skyweaver staying alert and attentive, which is why the first thread of my campaign - to listen - is so very essential! It is going to be a lot of work, in any case, but we should not expect any less if we want the Skyweaver to actually make a difference.

Skyweavers, I have seen that several of you have brought forth the general concept of some form of a suggestion box. What form do you envision this taking and why do you see this as something that would be useful to our community?

We had something like this in RP specifically in the past and it was not used all that much, so to that end I say what makes you believe this version will be different and how can we make this something that will actually be useful?

The "suggestion box", or Skyweaver's Cloud as I've labelled it, would be a forum-style channel of the same kind as the election campaigns, or the election nominations channel. It will be open to every Starborn to express their thoughts, ideas, worries, and whatever they may carry with them.

I strongly believe this is going to be beneficial to the development of our community because it would serve not only as a suggestion box, but also a community-based thinktank. As mentioned before, this is not the only way I want to go about collecting feedback, as I am very well aware that not every Starborn is ready to have their notions challenged right away, and that's fine - I want to serve as the primary point of contact to everyone who wants to see their thoughts assessed in private, for the time being or permanently.

To inspire is going to be the larger issue at hand. I am absolutely positive that the outspoken and bolder Starborn will serve as a great example to everyone unsure about the project. I will, obviously, make it my task to keep promoting the forum, privately and publicly. People are deterred by the sight of not being listened to. Proving them that there is, in fact, someone who is very well willing to listen, and to act upon it, should prove motivational to others.

(In regards to becoming a bridge between governance and community) A noble goal certainly, how will you go about doing this?

This is most easily answered by a summary of the campaign, really - by listening to the voices of the community, and the governing bodies. Communication is key in understanding each other better. The Skyweaver's Cloud is meant to incite the desire to respectfully debate ideas and concerns amongst each other, and, not less importantly, to keep track of what has already been discussed, that no voice will ever be lost.

At the same time, to those who are not yet ready to step up to public debate, I will keep a friendly ear to everyone wishing to express themselves in a private setting. As you are mentioning with a later note in your post, this will be a lot to take in, but in all fairness, I believe it is what I do best!

(In regards to the importance of listening) What policy proposals or practices will you push for to ensure this happens?

I believe this is something that will, in any case, require further campaigning and advertising after the elections have gone by. As mentioned before, practices will primarily evolve around the Cloud, and private counselling. You are not wrong to assume it will be a lot of work, but I believe this is a must if we want the Skyweaver to make a difference.

As for policy, for the time being, I do not intend to change a lot, honestly. It must be clear, in any case, that participation is and always will be voluntary. Those that want to take their ideas directly to the Halls shall, in any case, remain to be able to do just that.

My question, too, is about this idea of a 'skyweaver's cloud' and I suppose more about the idea of the Skyweaver as a bridge between citizen and government. One discovery I found during my extensive surveying efforts within Starlight and Horizon was the feeling that it was hard to make a suggestion because it felt like there was just so much to learn about the game in the first place to propose an idea of merit. How will you make members comfortable, confident, and yet competent in sharing their ideas?

I believe that will indeed be the most difficult part of it all. I've been part of Starizon for almost 8 months now and I still believe that I have a lot to learn myself, so the notion is defintiely warranted.

Comfortable? The centerpiece of my vision behind the Skyweaver's Cloud is the "hybrid system" of sharing ideas that I have mentioned before. There will be increased emphasis on how I will always gladly discuss ideas in private first if people find it difficult to jump right in. Fleshing out ideas in direct messages will make it easier for Starborn to take to the Cloud, because a) they will have talked to someone with government experience already, who will then have given a proper assessment, and b) they may improved upon their own idea with the Skyweaver together, which will also make them more...

Confident? I believe this is where a personal strength of mine comes into play - constructive feedback. There will, obviously, be ideas that are not as feasible as others. I am not going to shoot those down right off the bat - instead, I will point out the positives about them, and then provide ideas on how to improve them.
Additionally, for all those that choose to discuss their notions in the Skyweaver's Cloud right away, I will make sure that discussions remain civil, and nobody is going to be attacked for their views. Criticism is good and important, but only if directed at the idea, not the person behind it - and without destructive intent.

Competent? By providing incentive to discuss, the Skyweaver's Cloud will not only give Starborn the opportunity to fortify their own vision, but also their abilities when it comes to defending and debating them. Whether or not this happens after we have discussed them in private, where I will be doing my best to empower the respective Starborn, and work out their idea together with them, depends on the individual. In any case, the "listening" section of the Three Threads of the Skyweaver will allow every Starborn to proceed at their own pace.

What specific projects do you plan to do yourself for the betterment of our community?

First and foremost, of course, there is the Skyweaver's Cloud, but I've been talking about that way too much already and I'm sure you'd like to hear what else I've been planning.

I've been thinking a lot about how to maintain awareness for my private thinktank program, which is supposed to run alongside the Skyweaver's Cloud, and while I do not currently have a name for this, I intend to create a "private office" of sorts, going by the name of "Celestial Loom" (this could be subject to change, of course).
For the Loom, I want to present office hours, if possible, every day, for Starborn to directly consult me. Just to be clear about this: Starborn will always be welcome to send me a message, but depending on my availability, this sort of conversation would inevitably grow asynchronous. With the Loom offering office hours, there will always be a chance for Starborn to have an actual real-time conversation, to ensure their ideas and endeavors will not just fade into the nothingness that direct messages often become.

Why are you personally the best choice for Skyweaver?

To many, I have proven myself as a person that can generally be trusted. I have always put great effort into reaching out to my fellow Starborn, be it for their own personal endeavors or game-related.
I have spent enough time in Horizon to understand what matters and what doesn't. I consider myself to be one of the most active members of our community, someone who has been able to gather a lot of government experience over two elective terms in basically all the ministries that we have.
At the same time, I am still new enough to our region, and NationStates as a whole to be incredibly motivated to get further involved. I have a lot of energy that I intend to invest into learning more every day, and enough time to make it happen, too.
Finally, I am reasonable and level-headed enough to keep discussions civil and polite, be it between myself and other Starborn, or between other members of the community without my own involvement. Whoever chooses to work with me knows they will have a dedicated, yet unwinding person by their side.

And beyond the cloud and elevation of the ideas of Starborn - what other projects or plans would you pursue that you would only be able to accomplish in this Office compared to say an appointed role in the Executive.

The Skyweaver's Cloud and the Celesial Loom are, in any case, going to be the centerpiece of the campaign. I believe everything else will be fleshed out as time progresses. These two only focus around the involvement of the community; at the same time, however, the Skyweaver is meant to serve as an advisor to the Triune Circle, and the Aetherial Council. The dynamic in this sort of collaboration will be interesting to see developed. I believe the Loom could absolutely serve for members of the Council, or even the Triune Circle as well, when members feel the need to talk privately about certain developments they are not ready to discuss in front of the remaining Council, for example.
The insights that I seek to win from both the Cloud, and the Loom will undoubtedly serve me well an the advisory role. This, of course, is currently less of a separate project than it is another connected endeavor, but I'm going to follow it all the same.

This term will be an enormous one - a change in leadership at Aetherion - the most active our legislature has ever been - while we confront a dwindling game population - and while we have the most projects running in Starlight & Horizon history.
How exactly will you seize on these moments to not only make us better than we were when we started but also define the very role of Skyweaver to begin with?

A: This is where I intend for the "connecting" thread of my Skyweaver campaign to come into play. Not only our own election matters, but we will see a new Aetherion following Celia's choice not to run again - following a fantastic term, needless to say. At the same time, as I've mentioned before, the ideas that we will hopefully develop together will see many take to the Halls of Solaris, which inevitably means we are also going to establish a solid fundament to work together with the Flamewarden, be it our current, or a newly elected one.

We do have a great number of projects indeed, and chances are there will be even more. I believe when it comes to figuring out what the Skyweaver will be, and what the Skyweaver will not be, it is important to understand that the Skyweaver will never be able to instigate many great changes on their own. The Skyweaver and their work will be based on collaboration with quite literally everyone: Triune Circle and Aetherial Council on a governing basis, the many Starborn on a community-approached basis, and, probably, the ministries and their respective staff as well. Therefore, it is unavoidable for the Skyweaver to be active throughout all the structures of the region.

Q: I'm being a bit of a hard ass here but a lot of what you're promising here is collaboration with others -> that's great and very much expected of your role -> but is also something I would expect of any elected official within this region.

It is good that you have both ideas and are considering feasibility already though

A: Oh no, I fully understand. You would expect your Aetherion to be available to any Starborn, too, as well as the Flamewarden. In my opinion, it is the combination of availability, and active connecting that brings everything together. If the Skyweaver is meant to act as an advisory role, this would have to work in every direction and not just towards the Triune Circle and the Aetherial Council, which already have a lot of experience to begin with.

The Skyweaver would work as a mediator, in my personal vision, to bring together what has not gone together on their own, and this is where I personally believe the greatest difference to grow between the Skyweaver and any other governmental role, elected or appointed.

Q: Perhaps, but conflict is also just a part of governance. Disagreements have happened many a time in Starlight and Horizon and always will. Skyweaver will need to not only mediate but also bring their own vision for things - this is in my view how the role will be most useful and largely what I envisioned when Celia originally proposed it.

A: Absolutely. It is just that I personally would never consider myself "wise" enough to provide my own view without at least having listened to other opinions before.
One thing that you could absolutely add to why I expect myself to be the best choice for Skyweaver is that I actually have considerable moderation experience (gathered outside of NationStates - for transparency reasons). I know what it takes to keep a community together, to keep people entertained, to reach out for compromise when no easy solution can be found.
Just to be clear about this: I don't simply intend to be the megaphone for a quiet crowd. Nothing of what I discuss with anyone else will be free of my own judgment. I'm here to develop rather than to replicate. Would it for be this only, the role wouldn't be needed.