With the December newsletter, 2019 is completely full with 12 newsletters. Looking at the 2019 Newsletters thread, the table at the top looks good. The club should be proud to have an issue for each of the 12 months of 2019.
As we close out 2019, I looked back on the newsletters. Most issues have literary and film references. Some have plays on words, modified quotes, altered poems, or stories. Some issues reflect on club joys and sorrows. Some poke fun at me, or make light of a boring topic. Adornments were included in each issue--at least, that's the term being used here to describe the mostly free clipart used throughout the newsletters.
The adornments are used to set a mood, help visualize a thought, or draw attention to something. Each issue of 2019 has a Fiero Appreciation article, largely ending with a classic phrase resembling, "that's something to appreciate."
Pgackerman has somehow found the time to turn out all those articles, with all those graphs. That is a big time committment. His articles are thoughtful, balanced, and rooted in reality.
Some mistakes were found and fixed, throughout the newsletters. These updated newsletters were uploaded to the web site.
The newsletter threads have been updated to include newsletter topics for each month, so that it is easy to find the newsletter with the topic for which you're looking. This also helps with planning for future newsletters. Searching is...better than it was, but still does not reliably find the topics. The newsletters do now come up with a google search, but not necessarily for the searched keywords.
There were a few articles that, were they to be written now, would be written differently/better.
At the time of writing, each newsletter was a 100% effort. Some of the cover images from 2018, in particular, are hard to beat.
One challenge is finding suitable images. Front page images need to be in portrait format. Most of the images on the site are in landscape format. The problem is that portrait images need to be close-ups, and the pictures on the site are going for a panoramic view. If the images are cropped, they have no top. It's difficult for me to take these pictures. So, if you take an awesome portrait image of a GFC event/activity, send it on over.
As you read through the articles, notice the contributions from people in other clubs. If you communicate with these people, be sure to thank them for going out of their way to help. Their time and expertise were indispensable in writing these articles. Article contributions are always welcome.
The site itself is starting to get more visitors who are specifically looking for the newsletters.
