Calendar and special events

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Marty
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Calendar and special events

Post by Marty »

Calendar and special events

Alongside the parliamentary timetable mechanics, we are introducing a bit more structure into the game's schedule, with special events that will encourage everyone to keep an eye on the big picture, on concrete policies and long-term political strategy over short-term intrigue and safe but boring bets. We believe that it will be good for the game if parties are challenged to keep their offering clear, concrete and fresh by events such as the Queen's Speech debate, the budget debate and conference season. We also believe that leting these events recur annually is possible because they are predictable - you'll know a year in advance when the next big event is coming up, which means that it's important to keep it going - but it also gets easier if you have something to work up to. During these big events, there will be no timetable and the game will run at a slower pace. We'll also be introducing a recess month, during which both parties get some time to recharge and think about their next steps.

The usual pace for IG months is 4 RL days per month, to coincide with the timetables. Most months with special events will run for 5 RL days, and there will be break days after some of them during which the game is paused to help players recover their energy.

June: Queen's Speech
The Queen's Speech takes place at the start of each Parliament and after that in June every year, outlining the government's agenda and goals for the year. For more info on the Queen's Speech debate, see the Parliamentary timetables thread. Depending on how things are going, we will consider introducing a break month before the QS during which both sides can prepare.

September: Party Conferences
Conferences are the big set-piece events where parties try to grab the headlines with an overview of their political vision and policy offerings. These are big media events that can make or break a leadership or a party's momentum. We'll be doing these annually to encourage you to keep thinking carefully about what the entire picture of your policy offering looks like.

For the major parties, party conferences last three days, with Labour starting one day before the Conservatives. For the single-player parties, they only last one day consisting of a guest speaker and the leader's speech. Fringe speeches will be offered to all parties.

The day after Conference season is a break day for the game to let everyone cool down.

Conference venues
You will have to pick a location for your party conference. Your party leadership must communicate their choice to the A-team for approval by the end of August IG.

Main Speeches
Every day, each party can have a maximum of three speeches. These are the big ones, where you can announce policy, talk about key achievements and make the party faithful enthusiastic. If you can't fill all the slots, don't worry - every one will have a nice day out in the awful locations you've all selected. These speeches are addressed to the assembled press in their droves as well as the party membership core, so do your best! There is no limit on the word count of the speeches, but I will send you lots of angry face emojis if it's insanely long. These speeches, except for the NPC guest speaker, are for players only.

One of your speeches may be designated as the keynote each day. This one will receive immense scrutiny from the press and is usually the last speech of the day. Traditionally, the Conferences start with an Opening Address from the Party Chairman and close with the Leader's Speech (though this isn't gospel and doesn't need to be followed).

You may use one of the slots on one of your days to invite a single NPC guest speaker. This can be an elder statesman of your party, a friendly foreign politician or someone from outside politics, but you will need to run these past the A-team before using and posting their speeches.

The programme of events should be posted in advance of the opening of the Conference. It will not look good if you don't have a schedule, so make sure you do do one.

Policy Debates
The other event held in the Main Hall are policy debates. These represent debate by the delegates on resolutions concerning party policy. Each party may present two policy motions to the party - posting later in the season will decrease the effectiveness of the event. Debate lasts the entirety of Conference season, with players as well as A-team members contributing (we'll just do some short bullet points, i'm not writing six speeches). Remember, as with all events at Conference, the press is watching.

It goes without saying that a motion at the Conservative Party Conference stipulating "That Conference believes in a pro-business agenda" won't be greeted with much debate or with much attention by the press and wouldn't really be a change in policy. As a rule, bold choices for policy motions have a greater potential impact, but this is positive as well as negative: it might turn off your party activists if you're too bold, and the defeat of a motion by Conference could be seen as a humiliating climbdown for the leadership, not to mention the fact that division never looks good (but be advised that the repeal of Clause IV could be considered a "bold debate" and see what it brought Labour). It is up to you to strike the balance between a motion so bland that everyone agrees and a motion so heroic that it's going to cause an uproar.

If policy debates are left unattended by the party's players, that will reflect badly on them - it's best to take Conference seriously. These are the people that are rearing to campaign for you, so don't let them down.

Fringe Events
The main event isn't the only thing happening at Conference. Throughout the duration of Party Conferences, there's all sorts of little events on its fringe, organised by internal factions within the Party or external interested parties. These groups would all like to hear from the party's MPs, so please create and contribute to the fringes available.

This is your chance to build a profile, both as a backbencher and as an ambitious frontbencher. The fringe events will all have a particular title and theme giving you a hint as to what they are looking for - a good fringe event appearance can contribute to your reputation. Be sure to research your audience beforehand: a Conservative MP extolling the virtues of Thatcherism at the Tory Reform Group might not get the reception he's expecting.

You may post as many fringe speeches as you like - in general, we will look favourably upon parties which do more fringe speeches, especially when the backbenchers are involved, but we won't penalise you for leaving some of these unattended. As with main speeches, there is no limit on word count. Fringe events may be posted during the entire duration of Conference Season.

Media Coverage
Party Conferences are huge media circuses carefully orchestrated to capture the narrative and make the party look good. They draw great crowds of journalists wanting to get a share of the action. Expect rumours, speculation, praise, discussion of strategy and the like from the media as they put your party under the magnifying glass. We will give a full review of how your Conference went after it has closed, but we will try to cover the most remarkable events at Conference before then and might want quotes or full interviews from some of the more remarkable contributors.

We will aim to do a daily podcast or "Today at Conference" BBC special daily reflecting on the previous day of conferences.

Questions can be addressed to your party advisor by PM or DM.

October/November: Budget
The government gets to choose whether to do their budget in October or November. For rules on the budget debate, see the Parliament rules.

January: Recess
January is a recess month during which there will be no parliamentary activity. This month is meant for both parties to take a breather and prepare for business in the first half of the upcoming year. Wise parties will favour using the recess for planning their next line of attack over keeping up the pressure on their opponents in the press.

This is also one of the best times to get in touch with an AV for discussions with policy stakeholders.

April: possible Spring Statement
A Spring Statement is not a special event per se, but is tied to the month of April on the calendar. See the Parliamentary Timetables rules for more information.
Dr. Marty of the A-team
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