Newsletter Ideas?

[aspidites]

While I do in fact have a couple of ideas for the news letter, the primary point of this thread is to collect ideas from our (small) community about what they'd like to read about.

My Ideas
* I think it would help to relive some of the pressure off of snowdrop's shoulders if the newsletter was a community effort rather than a one man show. Snowdrop would still be the 'editor-in-chief' so-to-speak, but a large amount of the content would be written by us.

* Interviews might be a nice idea, though I suspect that we'd run out of people to interview rather quickly. I think it would be nice to have a deeper look inside the skulls of the 8 core developers (see http://wtactics.org/team).

* A community contributions section would be neat. Aside from given credit where credit is due, it would help to show that the community is involved and that things are happening. Two people I can think of off of the top of my head are tex who is working on documentation, and Mattaiyah, who is helping with card templates. I'm sure there are plenty of others out there, but that's the point of such a section.

<Insert Your Idea here>
Keep in mind, that you don't have to express concrete ideas. In fact, it would be beneficial to mention what you don't want to read about.

[snowdrop]

I'm all for. Maybe we can use a wiki-page as a sandbox for writing next issue up? Think it's better for co.-work than to work in WP directly...

[Mattaiyah]

I like the idea of a newsletter. There are a few concerns, like how many times will it be posted in a year (monthly, bi-weekly, random), but I'm sure that won't be an issue.

I'd recommend adding a card/strategy of the (time) for the newsletter, even if it's just to say : "This one was a pain to make, hope you appreciate it.

This next idea is just being thrown out there, but mabye add a section to show the developpement process of something.

The only thing I can think of at the moment that I don't want to see is an empty (or nearly empty) newsletter.

[Q_x]

We post newsletters from time to time - so that they're never empty. Random is the answer here. Recent news, milestones reached, reminders, plans, thoughts - all goes in.

[aspidites]

Considering the pace that things are developing, I think bi-weekly would to be too brisk. On the other hand, quarterly seems to sparce. I'd say a monthly news letter would be "just right". As large as the community is, I think wordpress should do (for final versions of the news letter), but given the nature of the material, I think it would be neat to do a layout in scribus or something.

As for brainstorming, I'd prefer email, simply for the fact that its easier to see when new ideas are thrown out there (though I suppose it might be possible to subscribe to an article in the wiki?), but I'm all up for anything.

IMy overall goal is to help further the impression that we are not dead, because we arent. I'd simply blog about stuff, but it appears as though my writings aren't so interesting (evidence by the lack of contributions, comments, etc).

[snowdrop]

I like the idea of a newsletter. There are a few concerns, like how many times will it be posted in a year (monthly, bi-weekly, random), but I'm sure that won't be an issue..

Random or monthly is the answer, all depending on how much work people put down into a) the project overall and b) into making of the newsletter.

Let's keep in mind that most work that should be done should, generally, go towards the project in itself, and not creating newsletters. The exception to this would of course be whoever is responsible for PR or project lead etc, which would be a more common way to get that particular task/function handled without necessarily taking time from other people involved in the project.

Personally I am for most things that make me less and less central, no matter what it is, and think it could be a good idea to try out more co-authored newsletters for a while and see what good/bad comes out of it. That said, while I'm the benevolent dictator I would want to have the veto (not same thing as censorship since dicussions and whatever the topic would still be allowed in forum etc) over the final newsletter, at least until there is another overall project lead that figures it should be elsewise.

I'd recommend adding a card/strategy of the (time) for the newsletter, even if it's just to say : "This one was a pain to make, hope you appreciate it.

This was a cool idea. I'll do my best to contribute with that and hope others feel they're free to do the same.

This next idea is just being thrown out there, but mabye add a section to show the developpement process of something.

Could you explain it in more detail, with 1-2 examples? At our previous site we had something similar(?) to this in one blogpost, or actually several blog posts, where we showed how the artist Kitty worked, step by step, and also less exciting stuff showing my/Q_x progress and summarizations of discussions when for example developing the mark-symbol and other template related materials. Typically such stuff is more intended not only for devs but more exciting to the general public, while the newsletter was originally intended as a more "informal" and "internal" usage to keep devs in the loop of whats going on, partially because we all work slowly and need the reminders + overview.

The only thing I can think of at the moment that I don't want to see is an empty (or nearly empty) newsletter.

We've never had that issue. Usually I have writen medium-filled newsletters with what I deemed to be the most pressing matters and relevant info.

er), but given the nature of the material, I think it would be neat to do a layout in scribus or something.

Who would be responsible for that task and why have it as pdf/png?

IMy overall goal is to help further the impression that we are not dead, because we arent. I'd simply blog about stuff, but it appears as though my writings aren't so interesting (evidence by the lack of contributions, comments, etc).

We've never been more alive, at least measured in how much we have achieved. Slowly, but securley, as the old swedish proverb goes Besides, the pace of things is still always up to us and varys greatly. I for one always have most time during summers, and have had less time than usual these couple of months due to me getting a new job that required me to get accustomed to new routines etc. That coupled with a still ongoing personal drama, still hunting for an apartment etc, has made me very unproductive for a good while.

I'm not sure your stuff's "interestingness" can be measured by how much people participate in your part of the project or by comments on posts: Your stuff is the most techie around and normal people simply won't understand much of it or be excited by it until they can see some sexy video or actually test something themselves without having to install Linux or write commands In comparison you could (well, before site was restarted) look at many of my posts that were non-tech, which also had 0 or very few comments around.

We can't be discouraged by amount of comments or public's reactions, no matter what they are. Sure, it's always nice to get a pad on the back by the passerby and total stranger, but in the end it doesn't matter much - we still have the same tasks ahead of us and usually same resources, regardless of pads, unless they also throw heaps of cash on us.

[Mattaiyah]

Typically such stuff is more intended not only for devs but more exciting to the general public, while the newsletter was originally intended as a more "informal" and "internal" usage to keep devs in the loop of whats going on, partially because we all work slowly and need the reminders + overview.

This confuses me a bit, since if the purpose of the newsletter is to inform/remind the devs of what's going on, what's the point of asking the community what they want in the newsletter?

This next idea is just being thrown out there, but mabye add a section to show the developpement process of something.

Could you explain it in more detail, with 1-2 examples? At our previous site we had something similar(?) to this in one blogpost, or actually several blog posts, where we showed how the artist Kitty worked, step by step, and also less exciting stuff showing my/Q_x progress and summarizations of discussions when for example developing the mark-symbol and other template related materials.

That's exactly what I mean. Of course, that does depend who the newsletter is for. There's no point if only devs see it.

why have it as pdf/png?

It could be good to keep an archive of older newsletters as .pdf in case something happens.

About content for the newsletter, this depends on who it's for. If it's for devs, a "This week on WTactics!" section and a wishlist would be the best idea. If it's for the community, it's what I sugested before (dev process and card of the (time)) and mabye the "This week on WTactics!" section.

[snowdrop]

...if the purpose of the newsletter is to inform/remind the devs of what's going on, what's the point of asking the community what they want in the newsletter?

I'm not sure my original idea of how the newsletter should work or why it exists in the first place corresponds with aspidites, who posed the question. Regardless of my original intention I think the suggestion should be given a shot, if nothing else just to evaluate it's result.

That's exactly what I mean. Of course, that does depend who the newsletter is for. There's no point if only devs see it.

I'll try to transfer some more content form old blog to new this weekend, some of it is insightful if one happens to be interested in what we're doing.

It could be good to keep an archive of older newsletters as .pdf in case something happens.

Laying stuff out in Scribus and making it look good + download and open up a pdf isn't justified by backup reason alone, I think, since info could be backed up in many other ways (database dumps for example, just a command every now and then or cron-job)

While PDF could look very pro and all it is, and will remain to be, first and foremost a print medium. It works shit on the screen, usually has frakked up loading times even on good systems. It was primarily made to make print outs look identical, at least that's the most practical function I myself has ever discovered with it. Heck, even pure HTML works better for screen.

About content for the newsletter, this depends on who it's for. If it's for devs, a "This week on WTactics!" section and a wishlist would be the best idea. If it's for the community, it's what I sugested before (dev process and card of the (time)) and mabye the "This week on WTactics!" section.

Since the blog already exists, as does the forum, I think the community is covered. (In any case, the community is more or less == the devs and random passerbys). I wouldn't know what the use of a blog would be if we also topped that of with a newsletter that was directed towards the general public... so I'd still say that the newsletter is/should be for the devs and/or extra-curious followers in the public.

[aspidites]

A lot of good feedback going in here. I'm rather drowsy, for forge the lack of direct quotes (not that I tend to use them in the first place).

presentation
The suggestion for a scribus/pdf layout was more for the sake of being shiny. If doing so is too much of a hellish chore, then I'm not particularly for it. When I mentioned it, I was speaking from the mindset that since the cards are meant to be printed and distributed, it would be cool if our news letter was such as well. Mind you, I do know that similar could be done with blog posts, but the results would be less than ideal.

audience
With respect to your comment about energy not being spent on things that take away from the project, I think it's a bit unreasonable. I'd argue that anything that inspires contribution, forces us to think about how the project functions, gets the creative juices flowing, or increases the moral of project members serves to further the project (and sub-projects) along, not hinder it. This train of thought also conveys who I believe the newsletter should be directed toward: everyone. For developers, seeing how their minds tick when developing this feature or that would be insightful, and the community at large would benefit from such a newsletter by being able to feel as though they are part of the process, even if they have only simply lurked on the forums (much like a reader feels tied to the main character of a fiction novel, for example). Additionally, much like previous news letters, it would help keep developers on task by enlightening everyone as to each others whereabouts. Think of it as a merger of developer meetings and reports for those meetings.

Btw, snowdrop, I know you aren't opposed to the idea entirely and are just raising the usual "what's the point" sort of arguments. I'm responding specifically to that. Indeed, I think there are times when purpose is discovered, rather than defined.

[snowdrop]

Indeed, I think there are times when purpose is discovered, rather than defined.

...that really should be put in some quotation book, I'm just hearing morgan freemans powerfull yet crazy-cozy voice saying it...



Ok, let's try to figure this out: We have a blog, that's public and primarily a kind of channel for us to post whatever "new" is going on and which we deem worthy more than the 140 charcters we ping.fm.

If we were to have a newsletter for the public (as well as devs), then:

1) what really is the difference
2) and what's each channels primary function?


What I want to avoid is:

1) not knowing which text to place where
2) posting same text in both newsletter and blog
3) creating a situation where getting the newsletter content is harder than getting the blog content - we want it to be super-easy for people to see what's going on
4) even sparser blog updates due to us also/or working on newsletter instead, due to frequent and shorter news is better than monthly or bi-monthly massive newsletters, at least in the eyes of the public and signals of breath

I believe the questions above are all in proper place if we're to use both tools or change focus on one of them. As it is already we don't have avalanches of info anyways.