Why I Built CallBoard

Sonic Temple — Real Work, Real Brotherhood, Real Chaos

This year at Sonic Temple, Local 12 pulled together a massive crew. Four stages, multiple departments, dozens of hands. The scale of it was impressive. And so was the pressure.

Check-in on day one was slow. The stewards had a full list of names, grouped by department and broken up by stage — but it wasn't easy to search or manage. Most of us knew what we were supposed to be doing, but it still took time to get checked in and sorted.

To speed things up, the stewards built an alphabetical list. That helped with check-in, but now they didn't have departmental assignments in front of them. So they were stuck sending people "over there" without clear placement.

I was scheduled to operate a forklift for a specific delay tower build. But when I went looking for the machine, it was already in use. No one knew who had it. I later found out it had been taken by someone from a different department — likely just doing their best to keep things moving. He probably didn't know the fork was meant for a different call.

Meanwhile, the client's crew lead asked for the delay tower hands — but the stewards hadn't noticed that crew on the call sheet. I happened to be nearby, so I grabbed my buddy and the two of us jumped on the build to keep the day from falling behind.

That wasn't a failure of effort. That was a crew doing their best with a paper list and a lot of moving parts. And honestly, it worked — because we're union, and that's what we do. We show up, we step up, and we cover each other.

Still, weeks later, people are trying to untangle handwritten sheets just to get paid correctly.

That's the moment I knew CallBoard had to be more than just an idea.

With the chaos of checking in barely in the rear view, I began mapping out CallBoard on my laptop under the Cathedral Stage. Mapping out CallBoard under the Cathedral Stage at Sonic Temple 2025

The Problem We All Know

That day at Sonic Temple wasn't unique. I've been a stagehand for years. My first gig was at Summer Camp Music Festival in Illinois, and since then I've worked every kind of show — outdoor festivals, Broadway tours, arena builds, corporate events, bar setups. I've worked union and non-union, with IATSE locals 5, 12, 30, and 66. I've been with companies like BASH, ShoPros, Proton, and GigLife (before it collapsed).

Through all of that, one truth has stayed the same:

The work is great. The systems are not.

We rely on group texts, spreadsheets, screenshots, and assumptions. The bigger the crew, the more chaotic it gets. You can be five minutes from doors and still not know who's supposed to be on what tower.

From Frustration to Action

I've been thinking about this since 2023. I started organizing other hands — helping people get calls, building simple systems to stay informed, trying to close the gaps that the official tools weren't handling.

It worked, in some ways. But it also backfired.

Some folks thought I was stepping on roles meant for union officers. That was never my goal — I just wanted the system to be better. But the misunderstanding was real, and it taught me that good tools alone aren't enough — you have to build trust too.

That lesson is baked into CallBoard — it's not here to replace anyone's authority. It's here to make the work smoother for everyone.

In 2025, I finally started building the tool I wish existed.

CallBoard isn't just for stewards. Or hands. Or companies.

It's for everyone in the ecosystem.

• Hands need visibility — see your schedule, get details, avoid confusion.
• Stewards need relief — stop juggling 100 messages and fix paper chaos.
• Companies need insight — track calls, manage reliability, stay legal.

I'm not building a tool to take control — I'm building one to give it back.

Union stagehands executing organized teardown at festival venue

Where this goes

This is just the start. CallBoard will grow into a full stage labor platform:

• Corporate call invoicing
• Resume and work history generation
• Real-time communication
• Story and photo sharing
• Eventually, backstage-specific payroll

Because this industry deserves software that's as skilled and resilient as the people working in it.

If you've ever scrambled to build a crew, run a call, or just figure out who the hell is supposed to be where — this is for you.

Let's build it right.

— Zach