The Spotlight Program is a way for FT nations to come together to detail their nations collaboratively with others. The Spotlight Program revolves primarily around character RP's within a given nation. The owner of that nation decides the parameters of the roleplay based on what detail within their own nation they want to flesh out more (such as "Law Enforcement", "Trade Routes", "Local Celebrities" etc). Other players can browse the list of ideas in this thread, and decide whether or not they want to be involved with each idea. Often times guests will be playing characters not from their own nation. This lets them experience the style of nation of the host, while helping the host with growing their understanding of their own nation.
A Host Nation is a nation that is looking to detail some part of their nation they haven't been able to before. They are posting up a "help wanted" sign, inviting other nations involved with the Spotlight Program to come and join in on an RP they have planned. Usually these nations are looking for an ability to flesh out a part of their nation they've never looked at before (but not always). Host players are also the ones who set up the parameters for the RP, and do the legwork between the guest nations when it comes too communications and keeping everything on track. Basically, they're the story framers.
A Guest Nation is a nation that wants to get involved in some character RP. It's that simple. Guest nations want to experience some aspect of the host nation. Maybe they want to learn about the host, maybe they want to do some detailing of their own if the host allows them to use their own character. Guest nations are also declaring themselves willing to get solicitations from hosts. If you're a guest nation, you may receive some TG's asking if you'd be interested in joining a host's RP. You're kind of putting yourself out there as looking for business. You're not obligated to join if you don't want, that's your prerogative. But if you don't want to be asked, you should probably avoid listing yourself as a guest. The Spotlight Program is all about getting people out there and working with each other.
So let's say our host nation (Player A) decides he wants to add some detail to a part of his nation. He decides he wants to add some depth to his law enforcement. In order to do so, he comes to the Spotlight Program. Player A makes a post in the thread, detailing what exactly he plans to do, and how participants will be involved. For this example, let's say he decides that guest nations will each play a detective within a small town police department working to solve a recent influx of drug shipments. This description gets listed under the "Host Nations" list, with a link to Player A's nation page.
At the same time, Player B decides they want to know more about Player A's nation. Player B comes to the Spotlight Program, and checks the Host Nations listing. She spots Player A's thread, and decides that playing a badass cop from Player A's nation sounds like a cool way to learn about it. Player B sends a telegram to Player A, letting him know she wants to get involved. Now, the two of them together decide they need more players. They go to the Guest Nation listing in the Spotlight Program thread, and pick a random name from the list: Player C. They telegram Player C, and ask if he wants to get involved with the RP. Player C agrees, and the lot of them go off and create a thread for their RP. Once the thread is made, Player A posts in the Spotlight Program thread one last time, to remove himself from the Host list, and adding a link to the "Catalogue of Exchanges".
That's it! A, B and C all go off to their new thread. Player A gets to flesh out new details about his law enforcement, while B and C get to learn about A's nation from a unique inside perspective. Happy role playing!
Well, you don't, necessarily. Plenty of NSers do this every day within their usual groups every day, while others throw their posts up in II and hope for the best. If you feel more comfortable doing that, then by all means, go ahead. The Spotlight Project is intended to get people out of their usual circles and bring some fresh perspective into roleplays, while you detail your nation. Interacting with people you may not normally come in contact with might help you find aspects of your nation you never would have seen with your usual group. It is also intended to help people who want to get involved in character RP's within other nations, but don't know how to get started. Think of the Spotlight Program as an expansion pack. You don't need it to play, but it certainly livens up the game.
When you are deciding what sort of RP you want to do as a host, keep in mind that you're not limited in your actions! Many RP's will be of characters from within the host nation. This isn't to say that that is the ONLY option! If you feel like it's the best way to coax out your details, you're more than welcome to have the guests play characters from their own nations. You may have guests control more than one character, such as a team or squad of characters. You may have each guest play an entire department from their nation as it interacts with your own! Your limits are purely of your own design. Don't let us stop you from doing something amazing!