Benson Theatre — Blockers & Plan B

Last updated: 2026-05-08

Living doc surfacing every wall between today and launch. Updated after every phase. Each blocker has a Plan B mitigation and (where relevant) pre-drafted comms ready to fire.

🔴 Hard blockers (cannot proceed past launch)

1. Paid plugin license keys

• Why blocking: Gravity Forms, ACF Pro, ACF Extended Pro, Events Manager Pro, Admin Columns Pro, Imagify all require paid license activation. Builds run on Local without activation but won't pass updates / receive support / stay supported on the production site.
• Plan B / mitigation: Install free versions where they exist (Wordfence Free already in spec, Yoast Free already in spec). Build with whatever activates. Defer the paid license lookup until tonight's questions are answered.
• Unblock by: Eric — point at G&M's 1Password vault entry or the /plugins skill that holds vendor license keys.
• Pre-drafted comms: N/A (internal G&M)

2. Production hosting decision + provisioning

• Why blocking: Can't run staging, can't issue SSL, can't do final QA on the actual stack until we pick where the site lives.
• Plan B / mitigation: Build on Local indefinitely. Theme + content + plugins + everything except SSL and uptime monitoring works locally. Defer hosting decision to right before staging deployment.
• Unblock by: Eric — Flywheel under G&M / Kinsta / decide later.
• Pre-drafted comms: N/A

3. GoDaddy login shared by Jim

• Why blocking: No SPF / DKIM / DMARC adds (email auth broken until we have it). No DNS TXT for Workspace verification. No DNS cutover at launch. No IP address update at the registrar.
• Plan B / mitigation: Document every DNS change we'll need to make in comms-ready/dns-changes-when-ready.md so the moment access lands, we execute in 10 minutes. Build everything that doesn't need DNS in parallel.
• Unblock by: Jim — login + 1Password share. He reset the email on May 7 but hasn't shared yet.
• Pre-drafted comms: comms-ready/jim-prep-email.md — single email asking for login share + everything else we need from him.

4. KEEP / KILL / MERGE final column locked

• Why blocking: Can't finalize page build list. Can't generate the 301 redirect map. Can't decide what gets migrated vs cut.
• Plan B / mitigation: Build assuming the pre-recommendations in SITEMAP-MASTER.md. KEEP everything green. Skip anything red. TBDs build under _TBD_ placeholder. Reversible after Jim's session.
• Unblock by: Jim's working session Mon 2026-05-11 11am CDT.
• Pre-drafted comms: Existing meeting on calendar; pre-session prep doc could be added if useful.

5. PayPal merchant account ownership confirmation

• Why blocking: If Shape Society or Amy Ryan personally owns the merchant account, every recurring donor / member could get orphaned at launch. Real revenue impact.
• Plan B / mitigation: Build the Memberships page using the existing PayPal subscription URLs verbatim. They route to wherever the merchant account lives, regardless of who owns it. The page works for new subscribers either way. Confirm ownership before flipping DNS.
• Unblock by: Jim — needs to dig into BT's records or ask Amy/Shape Society.
• Pre-drafted comms: Included in comms-ready/jim-prep-email.md — listed among the asks.

🟡 Soft blockers (mitigatable, won't stop the build)

6. EIN

• Plan B: Pull from candid.org public profile (501(c)(3) EINs are public). Confirm with Jim at QA.
• Unblock by: Jim (faster) or candid.org pull (immediate).

7. Logo files in 3 colorways

• Plan B: Take existing logo.svg from the live site and programmatically generate white-on-dark, black-on-light, and reverse versions. Mark _WIP_ until Jim confirms or sends original AI/EPS.
• Unblock by: Jim — has the original Adobe Illustrator files.

8. Refreshed impact stats

• Plan B: Keep existing copy ("over 130 partners, ~5,000 community members, 100+ events" from early 2022). Flag in HTML comment <!-- TODO: refresh stat from 2022 --> so search-and-replace is trivial when refresh comes.
• Unblock by: Jim — current numbers.

9. Real /accessibility content

• Plan B: Use standard WCAG 2.1 AA conformance template. Customize with venue accommodations from /the-main-auditorium scraped content (4 booths, 16-person banquette, ramps, elevator, configurable seating). Tag for Jim review.
• Unblock by: Jim review pass post-build.

10. Real /policies content

• Plan B: Use standard nonprofit policies template covering refunds, code of conduct, photo/recording, no-smoking, age restrictions for late shows, accommodations request flow. Reference existing COVID protocol (still relevant). Clearly state that ticket refunds run through whichever 3rd-party platform the artist used.
• Unblock by: Jim review pass post-build.

11. Sponsor / community partners list

• Plan B: Pull any visible partner mentions from scraped pages, recent press hits, or archive.org. Stub /community-partners page with what we find.
• Unblock by: Jim — current partner list.

12. Annual report / 990 link

• Plan B: Link to BT's candid.org public profile (always current).
• Unblock by: Jim — preferred annual report link if they have one.

13. Newsletter approach

• Plan B: Build a placeholder footer signup with no live integration. Wires up later when Jim confirms how the quarterly is sent today.
• Unblock by: Jim — Mailchimp / Brevo / manual Gmail / something else.

14. Past events policy

• Plan B: Default to hiding past events from public archive. Keep in admin for staff reference. Reversible later (Events Manager Pro supports a past-events shortcode).
• Unblock by: Jim — auto-hide / archive page / keep visible forever.

15. Day-to-day site admin (Miranda?)

• Plan B: Build with assumption that Miranda gets Editor role and Eric retains Administrator. Adjust at launch.
• Unblock by: Jim — confirm with Miranda directly.

16. Bar's future

• Plan B: Default to KEEP for /the-bar / /the-tech / /the-catering-room / /the-main-auditorium (the venue rental story). Drop only the Broadway Bar event per Eric's earlier note.
• Unblock by: Jim — sunset entire bar concept vs trim.

🟠 Sequential blockers (chained on something else)

17. SPF / DKIM / DMARC records

Chain: GoDaddy login shared (Hard #3) → SPF + DMARC tightened at registrar (10 min) → enable DKIM in admin.google.com → publish DKIM TXT to DNS.

DKIM step also chained on Workspace super admin recovery, which itself chains on DNS TXT verification (24-48hr propagation).

• Plan B for transactional email pre-DKIM: Route Gravity Forms notifications through SendGrid SMTP (G&M-controlled). SendGrid signs DKIM as sendgrid.net. Real domain DKIM happens post-recovery.

18. Workspace super admin recovery

Chain: GoDaddy login shared → add DNS TXT for Google domain verification → 24-48hr propagation → claim Workspace admin → reset paul@ password → DKIM enable.

• Plan B: Email recovery is parallel, not blocking. The rebuild ships without paul@ being recovered. Workspace admin matters for ongoing operations, not launch.

19. New site IP address at GoDaddy

Chain: Hosting decided + provisioned → A record IP known → GoDaddy login shared → A record updated.

• Plan B: Document the exact A record value and TTL drop sequence in comms-ready/dns-changes-when-ready.md. The moment login lands, we execute the changes in order: TTL drop → wait 24-48hrs → swap A record → monitor.

✅ Cleared