Members asking to be let inside because they forgot their phone to get in

Ask Asmbly
1

This hasn’t happened to me; perhaps, it never does, and I know there’s a protocol about persons following a member in an entrance door that member just opened without themselves unlocking the door… BUT, what if a person (that I don’t know) knocks on the door with project in hand and asks to be let in (because they forgot their phone)?

Is this ALWAYS a “No-can-do” situation? What if they can name one of the Stewards?

Thanks,
David

2

I had someone who’s membership had lapsed try to talk their way in once. I’m afraid it’s strictly no-go for anyone, unless someone is around who has the ability to check their membership status (which even I don’t know how to do).

3

I think there needs to be clarification on this. It’s been communicated to me to let people in when they ring the doorbell. We have volunteers who don’t have access to the door, people showing up for orientations, classes, etc.

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4

To clarify:

When someone rings the doorbell, they need to have a reason to be let in the door. Either a class or event, a guest of a member, a tour, deliveries, contractors, or active membership use. Another way is that people are not allowed in to wander or use the space without active membership.

It is completely fine to answer it and ask:

  • “Are you hear for a class or to meet someone?”
    • This is usually the case I run into. Folks are curious about the space or trying to get to a class. In the former case (curiosity) I refer them to the orientation tour, or if I happen to not be busy, I’ll walk them through an express tour and send them on their way with a flyer. Someone signed up for a welding class because they were able to look in and see the space.
  • If they say “I forgot my phone.”
    • I have done this to myself a few times. If you recognize the person and they were clearly just in the space working, I trust that their membership is active.

If you are skeptical that the person has an active membership, you can approach the person with “our workshop is for active members only” and use your best judgement in this case in approaching the person or moving on.

If the person is in, and you are still skeptical, you can verify that there is a Skedda booking, or email facilities@asmbly.org, or any of the individual workspace emails, with details.

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5

Another thing that is reasonable to do is ask them to show that their membership is active (in this regard, everyone has the ability to check someone’s membership status :wink: ). Anyone can log into their Neon account from their phone or one of our computers. The homepage dashboard will show their membership status and level. There have been a couple times when I’ve asked folks to do this and they came to realize their membership had lapsed, so it helps a lot in finding those situations and getting them resolved.

The link for the member portal is at the top on the asmbly.org website, but I also just made an easy URL that redirects to it for convenience — https://asmbly.org/member-login

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