[gexla]

> I much prefer just working HTML changes into a dev cycle.

Have you worked with either Wordpress or Craft? With each of these, you control the HTML which gets generated via templates which are files on disk which can be checked into your repository.

The content management element of the CMS allows users to log into the control panel to manage the content. This experience is controlled by the developer. In some cases, you might constrain editing to a simple WYSIWYG experience which is similar to support you might expect from Markdown. In other cases, a developer might allow blocks of HTML which could even include styling.

How would you expect "marketing and sales people" to work with Middleman or any other static site generator?