[Alpha]

State of the site as an announcement would definitely get some people's attention. Perhaps you could give Illu the job since he loves messing with people...xD. Seriously though, wouldn't hurt to have.

A newsletter....hmmm....that could be interesting. Optional though perhaps? Like an opt in or out sort of thing. Might be something to build up to though since it would be another project to add onto things (if you wanted to go full out and design it to look more formal). Also I know some people (myself included) aren't so great about checking or combing through their emails sometimes.