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PR, May 9, 2026: the newsletter parks, the summer plans

MediumPR Committee 2 min readBy PR Committee (Anne R chair)
TL;DR: With volunteers scarce, the [newsletter](/changelog-astro-public/changelog/newspaper/) is parked with honesty: the May edition ships in PDF, the June edition may be the last unless support appears, and the call for volunteers goes out through GSR and community channels. Attention turns to the podcast, trainings (WordPress and Opus Clip), moderation guidelines with legal input, and summer events - with Christopher tasked to explore AI and agent-based moderation, human oversight intact.
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.

The shortage, said plainly

Douglas shared his workload and lack of support, with content planned through year-end. Anne proposed calling for a new editor in the May edition and redirecting resources to the website and the tech committee. The group agreed: publish the May edition, and announce the newsletter is being temporarily parked due to volunteer shortages.

Format and distribution

May’s edition: PDF, built from Vita’s existing content. June’s edition: from Douglas’s already-written article, with an announcement that it may be the last unless support is found. Both shared in the community channel and GSR channels, with the volunteer call included.

Summer engagement

Events and festivals - Breaking Convention in London and the Solstice Festival - with podcast promotion across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook, spreading the message of alternative recovery methods.

Moderation guidelines

Moderation is more than posting: monitoring responses, answering questions, handling negative comments with clear protocols. Will: hide or delete derogatory comments, and potentially ban users, under objective guidelines. Jason (legal) to input. At least one human moderator per platform before expanding to new platforms.

The technical gap

Since David L’s departure, the website lacks proper monitoring, analytics and content updates.

AI moderation

Christopher to explore AI- and agent-based moderation and content aggregation for WhatsApp and social media, coordinating with Anne - with human oversight staying in place.

Next steps, as recorded

  1. Aile: volunteer for Instagram and Facebook posting/moderation, with training.
  2. Aile: announce the Opus Clip and WordPress trainings at meetings.
  3. Anne: schedule the WordPress and Opus Clip trainings.
  4. Anne: coordinate with Kevin and Christopher on TechCom access, analytics, and training.
  5. Anne: add Patricia to the Convention WhatsApp group.
  6. Anne: follow up on AI tools and agent capabilities for moderation.
  7. Anne: send the plan of action with training dates and role assignments.
  8. Anne: schedule regular body-double working sessions.
  9. Anne: develop moderation and content guidelines with Jason’s input.
  10. Anne: recruit at least one human moderator per platform.
  11. Anne: organize the Opus Clip training session.
  12. Anne: recruit additional editors for podcast/audio and video content.
  13. Douglas: post the May edition PDF to GSR and community channels, with the volunteer call and pause notice.
  14. Douglas: prepare the June edition with the may-be-last announcement.
  15. Josh: provide podcast/voice editing training to interested volunteers.
  16. Patricia: help announce the volunteer needs at meetings and in the community channel.
  17. Patricia: consider asking her son about volunteering for editing roles at the convention.