The draft
Open on its ownThe eight outreach messages
Status: ready to send. From IMan, 17 Sept 2026. Zaal and Steve send these, not IMan. Why now: ZAOstock #222 takes the fill-in form off the backstage page. Zaal: "can we remove the form and just ask them in the message what we still need from each of them." Once that merges, the page asks the artist for nothing, so the ask has to travel in the message or it does not get made at all.
Two things to fill in before sending
<backstage link>in each message. The codes are not in the repo, only their hashes. The links are in the vault,projects/zaostock-artist-ops-links-2026-09-10.md, which is what Zaal sends from.- Delete any line already answered. Bios, photos, cities and links were measured live today. Who and what, soundcheck and filming were not, because they sit in Supabase behind the crew login. If an act has already answered one of those, cut that line.
Measured live today, 17 Sept, 14:20 CAT
Four of eight acts are now published on zaostock.com: Michael Anderson, DCoop, LyonsDen, Tom Fellenz. The desk said two this morning; Michael Anderson and Tom Fellenz have landed since. Four are still pending: The Crown Vics, OPEN X, Grass Rug, Acadia Rising. Gaps inside the published four: Michael Anderson has no links, LyonsDen has no city and no links.
Routes
| Act | Sent by |
|---|---|
| The Crown Vics, OPEN X | Steve |
| Grass Rug, Michael Anderson, Tom Fellenz, DCoop, LyonsDen | Zaal, direct |
| Acadia Rising | Sen |
Set times below are each act's own. They are not public (Zaal, 12 Sept) and each act already reads its own time on its own backstage page, so it is safe in a one to one message and nowhere else.
1. The Crown Vics, 12:05 to 12:38, opening the day. Steve sends
Hey, ZAOstock is Saturday 3 October at the Franklin Street Parklet in Ellsworth. You open the day, 12:05, about half an hour.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM. It is mandatory and there is no Saturday alternative.
Everything about your day is here: <backstage link>
We still need five things from you, and the first two are the ones holding up your page going live on the site:
a short bio, one good press shot at the highest resolution you have, the city you are based in, your links (Spotify, socials, website, whatever you use), and who is on stage plus what gear you need from us and what you bring yourselves.
Bios and photos by Sunday 20 September if you can. Just reply here.
2. OPEN X, 12:45 to 13:25. Steve sends
Hey, ZAOstock is Saturday 3 October at the Franklin Street Parklet in Ellsworth. You are second, 12:45, forty minutes. And thank you again for bringing and running the PA for the whole day.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
Still needed from you: a short bio, one good press shot at the highest resolution you have, your city, your links, and who is on stage.
Bio and photo by Sunday 20 September if you can, those two are what put you on the site. Reply here with anything.
3. Grass Rug, 13:32 to 14:05. Zaal sends
Hey, ZAOstock is Saturday 3 October at the Franklin Street Parklet in Ellsworth. You are on at 13:32 for about half an hour.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
I still need a short bio, one good press shot at the highest resolution you have, your city, your links, and who is on stage plus what you need from us and what you bring.
The bio and the photo are the two that matter first, by Sunday 20 September, because your page on the site cannot go live without them. Reply here.
4. Acadia Rising, 14:12 to 14:45. Sen sends
Hey, ZAOstock is Saturday 3 October at the Franklin Street Parklet in Ellsworth. Acadia Rising is on at 14:12 for about half an hour.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
We have nothing on file for you yet, so this is the full list: a short bio, one press shot at the highest resolution you have, your city, your links, and who is on stage plus what you need from us.
The photo is the one we have chased hardest and still do not have. Any good one works, a phone shot in decent light beats nothing. Bio and photo by Sunday 20 September and you are on the site that day.
5. Michael Anderson, 14:52 to 15:25. Zaal sends
Hey, your page is live on zaostock.com and the bio reads well. You are on at 14:52 for about half an hour.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
Two small things left. Your links, anything you want people sent to, because that is the only blank field on your profile. And confirm the keyboard: you are bringing your own, and tell me if you need anything else from our backline.
Say yes or no to filming as well, we are recording sets and streaming the day.
6. DCoop, 15:32 to 16:12. Zaal sends
Hey, you are on at 15:32 for forty minutes, and your page on the site is live and complete.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
Nothing missing on your profile. Two things I still need from you as an artist, separate from the AV and stage manager hat: who is on stage with you and what you need from our backline, and a yes or no on filming.
7. LyonsDen, 16:19 to 16:59. Zaal sends
Hey, you are on at 16:19 for forty minutes, and your page is live on the site.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
Three things left. The city you are based in and your links, which are the two blanks on your profile. And the filming one, which is the one I actually need: we are recording and streaming the day, so say yes or no and that settles it.
8. Tom Fellenz, 17:06 to 17:46, closing the day. Zaal sends
Hey, you close the day, 17:06, forty minutes, and your page on the site is live.
Soundcheck is Friday 2 October, 4 to 7 PM, mandatory, no Saturday alternative.
Your page: <backstage link>
Two things left. Who is on stage with you, what you need from our backline and what you bring yourself. And a yes or no on filming, since we are recording and streaming the whole day.
What happens to the answers
They come back to whoever sent the message. IMan types them into the crew side, which #222 leaves untouched, and an act's page goes live on the site the moment it has a bio and a photo.
History, newest first
Mon 21 Sept
- #1: the DJ app is Aurdour. Deck photo still owed. #2: drone photos and the 12 Sept call footage go in a Drive folder, link to follow. #8: closed by Zaal, the outreach round is not needed.
Sun 20 Sept
- Two photos today, the two Stripe links, the eight outreach messages, a Gemini key, the reply to Steve, the stream test pin, the DJ app repo and deck photo, the call footage, and a DNS line for desk.thezao.com.
Sat 19 Sept
- Four rulings, relayed by zao-desk-sync: Steve Peer stage-manages and Maceo is on video (done). Stream test this weekend, 19 to 21 Sept, Zaal pins IMan. LyonsDen: do not send the backstage page yet, ask him first. Newsletter canonical repo is bettercallzaal/zaoonparagraph, ruled 15 Sept and never relayed.
- Two Stripe links, master doc access, eight outreach messages, the radio call on the stream line, #229 review, two photos by Sunday.
- None of the desk asks are on that board. Not the Stripe links, the master doc, the outreach messages, the photos, nor #229. Three systems now: the desk, ZOE's vault file, and the team bot's board, and only the desk carries the asks.
- Wrong or stale on its board: 15 days shown, it is 14. "Confirm 5 to 6 artists" open since May, 8 are confirmed. "Contact sound vendors" open, OPEN X runs the PA. "Write artist outreach templates" open, eight messages written 17 Sept. "Build /lineup page" open, shipped 15 Sept (#195). "Per-musician profile pages" open, every act has one (#199). Livestream dry-run undated, ruled this weekend. Sponsors 0 in pipeline: Heart of Ellsworth confirmed (#231), Bangor Savings Bank in progress, Freymon.eth drafted. Volunteers 0: seven named crew. Missing entirely: Stripe links, master doc, #229, Sunday photos, today's radio spot, wristbands, after-party, soundcheck, insurance, housing, the deal memos.
- Sixteen minutes after the first message through ZOE, Zaal's seat rewrote her Saturday file (ZAOOS #3571). It now carries: "Iman's desk, open for Zaal as of 19 Sept: row 7, row 9, the eight outreach messages, the radio call on the stream line, merge ZAOstock #229." Needs Zaal row 12 is done.
Fri 18 Sept
- #222 (backstage form removed) still open.
- Desk issue #8: send the eight outreach messages, the two checkout links, master doc edit access. Plus the four bios and photos by Sunday, the third stage manager, LyonsDen filming consent, the stream test date.
Thu 17 Sept
- #222 open (10:32 UTC): drops the fill-in form from the backstage pages. Zaal: "can we remove the form and just ask them in the message what we still need from each of them." This changes IMan's task 9. The backstage page no longer asks the artist for anything, so the outreach message has to carry the ask, per act, or nothing gets asked at all. The entry side (
missingItems(), the PATCH route) is untouched, so IMan still types in what comes back. - Eight outreach messages drafted, one per act, each carrying that act's own ask, with the routes and the two fill-in-before-sending items marked: drafts/2026-09-17-backstage-outreach.md. Handed to Zaal.
Wed 16 Sept
- Artist routes: Zaal is the main contact for every act, or Steve. This unblocks the backstage pages.
- Backstage pages out to every act, now unblocked.
Mon 14 Sept
- OK to send Lyons Den his backstage page (no form, no filming consent)?
- Artist routes and backstage pages.