I am formally announcing my bid for the position of Director of the Colonization and Mining Guild, in a joint ticket with Herbert Mills.

We're not here to offer you miracles or false promises. What we are going to offer, however, is a vast range of leadership skills, unprecedented knowledge and, most importantly, [b]structure[/b]. Why is this, you might ask? The truth is CMG has suffered from activity problems, an unmotivated workforce and poor leadership for a very long time. Too long have guild members had to pay for the leadership's flaws. The Guild has seen many poorly thought out wars, many terrible decisions and foolish promotions. If this faction is going to move forward, these constant mistakes needs to stop. The Guild's reputation will be rebuilt, and it all starts with us.

It's all well and good to talk about what we're going to do, but how do you know you can trust us? Lets talk about what has already been done, where our experience comes from and more importantly, why you can rely on us. No fancy rhetoric is necessary. Here are some simple facts: since joining, my leadership has turned around the fights on Andromeda City and by extension the entire EC-CMG war, resulting in EC requesting peace. We negotiated this peace with EC through our contacts and good relations, and we now have our home, Kepler's Dome, back in our possession. Since ending the war, we have already begun rebuilding the faction. CMG are now more active and have more consistent, well trained and confident combat leadership than ever before, through the combined efforts of both original CMG and the newly recruited Built. We have also entered into a war with VI, and we have already taken their pride and glory, Ceres Delta, and now secure consistent income every single cycle. The famous CMG slogan has never been more relevant, we are well and truly building a better tomorrow today.

It's clear that this leadership is intelligent, motivated and effective when it comes to external relations, but how do you know you can trust us with fixing the faction internally as well? I think the answer to this is obvious. We will simply tell you what we are going to do. Like any leadership candidates, we have policies, and we have plans. Of course, this is not all we have planned, but it should make our stance very clear.

[b]Ranks:[/b]
1. There will be no complacency amongst the High Command. If you are going to be in a leadership position in this faction, you are going to do your job. You will not log out for weeks at a time for no reason at all and you will not avoid the duties that come with your position. Nothing ruins a factions morale like an inactive High Command, and this faction is no different
2. There will be no friends circles. No splinter groups. No promoting friends. Not even Built. This applies to everyone, even myself. If we are going to truly fix CMG, we need to work together.
3. There will be no promotions simply because you are loyal to the faction, or because you past some arbitrary test (more on this later), or even because 'you are the only option'. People who are not fit for positions will not simply slide up the chain of command like they do in every other faction. If you want to move up in the chain of command, you have to prove that you are fit for the job.

[b]Departments:[/b]
There will be no pointless departments. Department structure should be clear and concise. It should be obvious what departments are for, and there should be absolutely no redundant departments. Redundant departments just leads to having to promote redundant people for no reason at all .With this in mind, the only departments currently planned are Combat and Economics. The names will be decided at a later date, but this essentially means that the Bureau of Indoctrination and the Strategic Oversight Board are being phased out. Their functions will be replaced by the High Command of the Combat and Economic departments, who will handle both training and tactics. This also means that there will be far less High Command positions available. This is intentional. We are reducing confusion and conflict when it comes to making decisions. Less people making decisions, more intelligent people making them, the result is better decisions getting made faster. Simple logic.

[b]Direction:[/b]
We also intend to revise how training in CMG works and make sure people are being taught [b]the right thing[/b]. Training is going to become far more practical, and far less theory. Promotions to R2 will not be done based on passing a test, but will rather be done by the leaders of the R1's respective department when the leadership thinks they are ready, depending on how you perform in real combat and trading situations. In addition to this, we are going to be specifically raising royalties on certain colonies to further improve our economic status, as well as placing less value on our active capital, instead distributing as much money to the players as possible. This means more money in your hands, and by extension a more motivated and active faction. Again, using simple logic, this means more money generated, and more money for you! Moving on to external affairs, we intend to improve relations with the main factions in the outer rim. These improvements will come in the form of better communication, training exercises, economic alliances (or possibly even a full alliance). When you combine all of these subtle changes, CMG will become more efficient, more motivated and, lets face it, more respectable.

Lets restore CMG to it's former glory.

Jackal and Herbert Mills for Director.