Call time

The moment somebody has to be there and ready, not the moment the event starts. There is no single call time for an event. The sound supplier has one, the volunteers have another, the MC and the guests have their own, and every one of them lands earlier than doors. A call time only works when it is attached to a name and a first task, because “crew arrives early” is a hope and “Marco, 2 PM, sound desk” is a plan.

Two habits make it hold. Put the call time on the run of show as its own row rather than in a message thread, so it survives the day. And tell people what happens in the first ten minutes after they arrive, because a volunteer who shows up on time and then stands around learns that arriving on time did not matter.

Source: Call-sheet vocabulary carried into live events from film and theatre, where the call time is printed per department and per cast member and is understood to be the ready-to-work time rather than the arrival time. It appears in the same form across published event glossaries, always paired with the rule that it sits earlier than doors.

First used in: 2.6 · The paper stack.