We will reopen on April 12th (Monday) from 9am. At this time Fobs will be reactivated and the space will be available for use.
COVID restrictions are still in place in the space including social distancing, restriction of numbers in areas and Mandatory Face Masks
We will operate at COVID Alert Level 3 with the removal of the booking requirement for the space and equipment (we may reintroduce space equipment booking depending on how busy the space becomes)
Level 3 Restrictions include
Social Distancing Measures in Place
Face Mask Required
Area Number Restrictions
No Guests Allowed
Area Restrictions
Woody Dusty - 3 People
Metalworking - 3 People
General Working Area - 6 people
Visual Arts - 4 People
Electronics - 1 Person
**General Guidelines for the Space Usage At this time **
Failure to follow the Guidelines will be seen as a breach of the code of conduct
Use Hand Sanitizer before entering the main part of the space (available in the foyer)
Wipe down all parts of equipment you come into contact with prior and after using
Do not visit the space if you are showing any COVID-19 symptoms
Bin all rubbish
Inform the board if you (or anyone in your household) develops symptoms within 3 days of being in the space
No guests permitted until Stage 2
No more than 1 non household member within the same 2m area at any time
Am I right in assuming that during the recent lockdown there have been people who have signed up, who will need their fob activating?
Normally we would wait for an open evening to do this, but with no open evenings how will this happen now? Given the work being done to get new members in, I really don’t want a load of new sign ups then getting frustrated when they can’t set up their fob and then leaving (worst case scenario)
One option is we dont worry about it too much and continue the informal way of shouting out on Telegram and then arranging mutually convenient times with a volunteer to let them in. This is entirely valid for a few new members but not so much in case we have a handful.
But if (and I don’t know how many people are waiting getting their fobs set up) there are more and more sign ups, it might be beneficial to try and get multiple people signed up in one go with occasional “Starter sessions” - 30 mins each week where a desk could be put near the door or outside (for ventilation reasons) with a member to hand, where newcomers could get their fobs sorted.
Another idea copied from telegram about how we get new members into the space for the first time in a covid secure way :
Ultimately getting new members into the space takes effort and we shouldn’t just make it their problem to get in. So some degree of effort is going to be on those who have access - either regular effort by arranging to be in and assisting with the computer, or by doing a bit of work upfront that makes it easier in the future.
If we wanted to look more professional to newcomers we could get a stack of A5 welcome postcards printed, put them in a stamped envelope with a fob inside, and the ID printed on the postcard using the label printer. The welcome postcard could summarise the key points and be an opportunity to answer some common questions.
With a stack of these pre made, when someone signed up it would just be a case of printing their address label and posting the envelope.
I think postcards would look neat personally, and I would be happy to get them made or be sending them. It’s also the sort of admin we could split out - making the welcome packs and sending them don’t have to be done by one person, but one person would own doing each of them.
The postcard(s) / fob in an envelope is a really good idea! (I think a flat fob would come under large letter so not too costly)
Prospective members could choose that as an option or say they’d rather try and catch someone at the space.
I had thought about pre-registering the fobs but probably not a smart idea to effectively post out active fobs to the space along with materials that tell whoever comes across them where we are
Things that would be useful for new members that we can include in their welcome pack:
The address and nearest tram stop with small map
A QR code link to the forum and telegram
A checklist of things to get started
Fire map
Cleaning station
lone working and risk assessments
How to close the space up on leaving
It may be that we would be better off having a postcard just for the fob ID, as a nice visual welcome thing, and enclose a letter with the more detailed starters guide.
I’m absolutely on for this.
The process as I see it:
We prepare some tens of stamped envelopes with whatever we want inside but at a minimum the fob and welcome material. There would be a Registration Officer who would be the named person in charge of posting letters - they may want to be elected or appointed given the handling of user data. The Registration Officer would take a cache of these pre-prepared envelopes home with them, and provide the board with an email address to which new member emails can go to.
We would edit the member system code so that the member system emails a dedicated hacman email address on sign-up - with only the name and address to prevent extraneous data being emailed about but also to make the email printable directly onto a label.
The board could set up a forwarder in G-suite which forwards that email to the Registration Officer. I suggest using forwarding so that the Registration Officer can change without having to update the code. This also means the Registration Officer can take a break if they want to and someone else can take over that role, if approved by the board. This makes it less of an obligation if they want a holiday or need a break - it’ll be very flexible.
When someone signs up:
Registration Officer gets an email with a name and address
Registration Officer can print the email to a label printer, or write the address into an envelope
Registration Officer posts it.
Then when the envelopes get low, the Registration Officer with the boards support can be provided with new welcome packs.
We can update welcome packs as we go, especially if the postcard is largely a visual thing with fob ID and some photos to get new members excited to get started, and extra information on printed sheets of paper.
Here we go! These are the flyers I designed, thanks @klkl for arranging for them to be printed.
Next step - stamps, more envelopes (I have some C5 ones laying about), stuffing envelopes with labeled up cards and respective fobs and then we are good to go.
Will need a code change to the member system to fire an email to outreach@hacman.org.uk with the name and address of the new sign-up (for the outside of the envelope). Then in that email account we can forward it to the “on call” registration officer to address the envelope and post it off.
