AstroLog PIR®
All PR Committee entries

PR, April 12, 2026: rebuilding the newsletter workflow

MediumPR Committee 2 min readBy PR Committee (Anne R chair)
TL;DR: The [newsletter](/changelog-astro-public/changelog/newspaper/) workflow is rebuilt from Canva's drag-and-drop fragility into a sustainable pipeline: Douglas takes editor-in-chief, Ryan collects submissions, Karyn gathers intercommittee reports, contributions flow through WhatsApp and a single Google Drive, and Christopher is tasked with exploring GitHub and AI-agent formatting in the background - while the committee keeps the human approach for now. Vita steps back from hands-on work but keeps training and templates.
Read the minutes →

Source: the committee’s AI-scribed minutes, provided by Christopher W from the PR Google Doc while viewer approval is still pending. Last names are initials, per PIR tradition.

Canva challenges

Anne and Vita, who had been handling the newsletter manually, presented the Canva format’s problems: mobile vs desktop quirks, and PDFs for the website as an archive.

The human-touch debate

Rob suggested Claude outright; Vita and Anne argued for the learning curve and the human touch. The group agreed to try AI agents in the background while keeping the human approach - Christopher’s suggestion: GitHub-based solutions and reusable templates.

Roles

  • Douglas: editor-in-chief.
  • Ryan: content collection.
  • Karyn: intercommittee reports.
  • Leah: Elementor experience and flexible deadlines; Ruth learning; Christopher and Rob time-limited; Karyn brings Claude experience; Douglas brings layout talents.
  • Vita: stepping back from direct computer work for personal reasons, but keeps training and templates.

Workflow

Google Forms submissions → editors → a Google Doc → Canva. A master template with fixed sections; an image-resizing agent idea; WhatsApp kept as an accessible channel. The newsletter subcommittee meets the first Saturday of the month.

Editorial guidelines

To be published with the twelve spiritual principles, submission deadlines, and a disclaimer.

The archive

A newsletter archive page on the website. Vita shared that she left TechCom over ethical concerns about certain technology applications - recorded here with respect.

Next steps, as recorded

  1. Anne: schedule training for WordPress and Opus Clip.
  2. Anne: coordinate with Kevin and Christopher on TechCom access, website analytics, and volunteer training.
  3. Anne: send the plan of action with training dates and role assignments.
  4. Douglas: take the editor-in-chief role and plan the next edition.
  5. Ryan: set up content collection.
  6. Karyn: start intercommittee report gathering.
  7. Christopher: explore GitHub/AI-agent formatting in the background.
  8. Vita: hand over templates and train the team.
  9. All: publish the editorial guidelines with the twelve principles.
  10. All: build the newsletter archive page on the website.