Tokens & Tactics #8: Building Workflows That Connect Everything
John Peabody's journey from journalist to content strategist at Aspen Institute, and how he's using Zapier and ChatGPT to automate social media workflows for his team.
Welcome back to Tokens & Tactics, our Tuesday series about how people are actually using AI at work.
Each week, we feature one person and their real-world workflow—what tools they use, what they’re building, and what’s working right now. No hype. No vague predictions. Just practical details from the front lines. This week: John Peabody.
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Tell us about yourself.
I’m a former journalist turned content marketer. Currently, I work as the Director of Content Strategy for the Aspen Institute, an endlessly fascinating and busy role. My team manages and produces our main Institute newsletters, socials and other content campaigns. The Institute is comprised of 60+ programs working across impact areas. We also have partner organizations around the world. In Central Comms, we work to elevate the work of these programs and advance the narrative, stories and mission of the larger organization.
ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude?
I’m primarily using ChatGPT right now, mostly because we have an enterprise account with ChatGPT. I also have a personal ChatGPT account that I stopped paying for once I got the enterprise account. I’ve used Claude for some more creative writing projects with similar results, though it seemed easier for me to “tune” ChatGPT to the way I wanted it to be. This was months ago, though, with Claude, so I’m due to revisit it.
What was your last SFW AI conversation?
I actually just wrote about this for my newsletter. I watched a video on LinkedIn with Nicholas Thompson, where he was interviewing someone about “Are we living in a simulation?” It’s a bit of a played-out question in my mind, but for some reason, I just opened ChatGPT and started asking it about this. Eventually, the conversation went into the realm of the future of humanity, and whether technology, at this point, can actually bring people together after dividing us so much.
So my actual prompt to start was Elon’s “What’s outside the simulation?” question, which eventually led to: “I think humans need human connection. Technology has already divided us — even with all the promise of social media to bring us together, tech has ultimately isolated us. We’ve become afraid of our own neighbors as a result. More tech, more AI has the potential to isolate us further and rot out the core of the human experience: human connection.”
I don’t normally have these weighty conversations with AI. It’s usually more like: “can you proofread this”
But if someone else’s conversations with AI are interesting to you, you can read it here.
First "aha!" moment with AI?
I did an online AI marketing course because I thought it would look good on my LinkedIn, but it wasn't until I was working on a screenplay about a year ago, after about six months of writing, I went to ChatGPT and Claude to help tighten up some copy. It felt a little wrong at the time, but I pasted chunks of the screenplay into the models, and what they gave back to me was genuinely amazing. They made suggestions that advanced the plot, made language more natural, and helped define characters in much richer ways. They also helped me when I was stuck as a sort of brainstorm partner.
When I finished, I pasted the entire screenplay in and asked for help creating loglines and a short synopsis. The writing was good, and it was at that moment I knew my life as a writer had completely changed. The genie was out of the bottle, so to speak.
More recently at work though, I’ve started building automated workflows. I just built a tool that uses Zapier to connect Airtable, ChatGPT and Slack to write social copy. Essentially, we have a multi-step process if programs at Aspen Institute want to get social promotion on the main social channels. It involves filling out an intake form, having an intake meeting (in some cases), drafting copy, scheduling copy, reviewing copy, etc. We’re using multiple pieces of software that are not connected, and it’s time-consuming. This tool I created essentially turns the submission into a social post and pings me on Slack when it’s ready to review in Airtable. It cuts out TONS of time and steps out of the workflow. It allows us—potentially, because I haven’t officially launched it yet—to start much farther along in the process at the copy review step. I’m excited to build more of these kinds of automated workflows that can supercharge the strength of my small team.
Your AI subscriptions and rough monthly spend?
Nomad as a DAM, and it has some very powerful AI tools built into it that I’m using all the time to create video transcripts and create alt-text on images.
Who do you read/listen to to stay current on AI?
Aspen Digital. I work closely with the team, and they’re incredibly tapped in. They just hosted a really interesting AI Summit called Share Futures with a solid mix of experts and leaders.
I follow Alex Lieberman closely on LinkedIn. He’s a content guy who has really embraced AI, so I feel like we’re probably kindred spirits in this time and place. I learn stuff from Nicholas Thompson just about every time he drops a video, especially for big-picture stuff.
I’m newly following Matt Hammel on LinkedIn now, after a few very trusted marketers I know sang the praises of AirOps. I’m doing a pretty rapid deep dive on AEO and trying to see if we can get out in front of some of the other big non-profits in this area.
Your most-used GPT/Project/Gem?
I have my enterprise ChatGPT pretty well tuned with the Aspen Institute voice and messaging statements, so it’s pretty basic, but it’s just “can you help me proofread this and put it in the Aspen voice?” I also say, “You’re a social media editor for the Aspen Institute, write.”
The AI task that would've seemed like magic two years ago but now feels routine?
Oh man, just instant proofreading. I’ve been writing for over 20 years, and I’ve always been a pretty meh copy-editor, so it’s revolutionary for me.
Magic wand feature request?
Maybe this exists already, but the idea that my ChatGPT has to be these long Q&A feeds seems a little weird. I’d love to be able to create version history UX, like in Google docs.
If you could only invest in one company to ride the AI wave, who would it be?
Honestly, no idea on this one.
Have you tried full self-driving yet?
Nope.
Latest AI rabbit hole?
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). I’m just very deep in trying to figure out the new SEO and how our work can begin to appear in the models. This seems like a crucial moment for this right now.
One piece of advice for folks wanting to get deeper into AI?
I have zero coding experience, but for years, there’s been this voice in the back of my head telling me I should learn to code for some reason. Now feels like the moment when someone with no technical background can actually build useful tools. So my advice is to embrace the frustration that comes with a new learning curve and just go for it. It’s easier now than it’s ever been.
Who do you want to read a Tokens & Tactics interview from?
I don’t know, but ChatGPT suggested Tiffany Zhong.
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Thanks for reading,
Noah and Claire