Channels: when to talk in one, and when not to
Alex, 20 Sep 2026: "the channels are not very clear and super messy. it's like when are we doing the channels and when should we not."
The mirror shows why. Twenty-two channels since June. Three carry the agency: Daily Standup (652 messages, 13 people), Editors (297, 9), Accounts (95, 5). One client channel is alive, Alumlus (172). The other fourteen client channels average ten messages each, most with one or two people, and eight have been silent since July. A client channel is a second copy of the client's folder with none of the structure, so things said there are lost to the task they were about.
The rule
Talk where the thing lives. If it is about a piece, it goes on the piece. If it is about a client, it goes on the client's Account list. If it is about the team's day, it goes in the team's channel. If a client must see it, it goes in the client's WhatsApp group, sent by the AM.
| What you want to say | Where | Not |
|---|---|---|
| Anything about a version: notes, a change, "v2 is up" | Frame.io comment on that version | Editors channel, a client channel |
| Anything about a task that is not the version: brief unclear, footage missing, due date | Comment on the ClickUp task, @ the person | any channel |
| A request for a client with no task yet | New task in the client's Account list, CODE Ad hoc: what, @ the AM | a client channel |
| Something the client must be told | WhatsApp group, by the AM, in the client's words | ClickUp |
| "I'm on X today", blockers, who is out | Daily Standup, one message per person per day | DMs to Alex |
| A question for all editors, a tool tip, a template | Editors | Standup |
| Same for design | Design | Standup |
| AMs coordinating across clients, cover for each other | Accounts | Standup |
| Media buying: an account flagged, a decision to discuss | Media buying (new) | Accounts |
| Something broke: ads off, payment failed, account banned | Alerts, posted by the portal; humans reply on the task it creates | Standup |
| A deal, a prospect | Sales | Accounts |
The channels that stay
Daily Standup, Editors, Design, Accounts, Media buying, Sales, Alerts. Seven. Each is a room for a group of people, not for a client. If a message in one of them names a client and a piece, the answer is "put it on the task", and the person who sees it moves it.
The channels that go
Every [CODE] Client channel is archived (not deleted) after its last thread is copied onto the task or the Account list it was about. Alumlus is the one with real traffic; its 172 messages get a week for the AM to move what still matters. Creatives (2 messages) and Atlas Media (3) are archived now.
Why this is not a loss
A client channel felt like the place to keep a client's history in one scroll. The folder is that place, with the difference that each message sits on the thing it concerns, is visible to the person doing it, and is read by the portal into the client's Brain. A channel message about a version is invisible to the editor's task view and to the report; a Frame.io comment is not.
The one habit
Before sending a message in any channel, ask: is this about a piece, a client, or the team? Only the third belongs in a channel.
Related: revisions.md, day-as-usual.md, naming.md.