Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

chriszf.posterous.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 122 posts

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#11

Post by chriszf »

FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #7

> But here I was, helpless. The only thing I could do was direct her to BART and join the rest of the class inside ... or pull the class out and refuse to attend it out of principle?

I had another 9 students inside, and the talk was worthwhile for them. Furthermore, the problem was not with the organizers (who were generous and accommodating) or the speakers (who were similarly generous), but with the venue. Nothing would have been solved by protesting: I'm not important enough that anyone would have noticed.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#13

Post by mbateman »

chriszf wrote: post #11
FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #7

> But here I was, helpless. The only thing I could do was direct her to BART and join the rest of the class inside ... or pull the class out and refuse to attend it out of principle?

I had another 9 students inside, and the talk was worthwhile for them. Furthermore, the problem was not with the organizers (who were generous and accommodating) or the speakers (who were similarly generous), but with the venue. Nothing would have been solved by protesting: I'm not important enough that anyone would have noticed.

You would have demonstrated that moral authority is on the side of the student who was wronged. It doesn't matter whether or not they change their policy, what matters is that you went along with excluding a student for no reason.

EDIT: Sorry, this came off a bit too personally. I'm a teacher too and I got angry when I read this story. I'll just say more generically that it is easily possible (and justifiable) for a student to feel alienated after a situation like this, especially if they feel like their educator didn't stand up for them. Whether or not "standing up for them" involves canceling the entire trip is a contextual issue, and I really don't know if it would have been a good idea in this case.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#14

Post by chriszf »

lusr wrote: post #9
soupboy wrote: post #5

Why go on with the field trip at all? For all the talk about "you feel the pressure to be that authority", wouldn't the best move have been to abandon the trip and side with the student?

Not sure that would achieve much, except maybe make her feel (unfairly) guilty and the rest of the class potentially resentful (despite this not being her fault). But sending her away makes no sense either. Why not ask her to wait outside, ensure the rest of the class finds their way, then attempt to find somebody with suitable authority to allow her in? There's no point arguing with a security guard past a certain p…

The story was abbreviated: I talked to several people to figure out what was going on before they insisted we were blocking the entrance. By then she had decided it was not worth the trouble and wanted to leave.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#15

Post by dustingetz »

Standard practice in Manhattan and Philadelphia at most office high-end office buildings. this is the world Americans live in. Yelp isn't in the business of protecting civil liberties.

edit: standard practice to deny entry to non-badged persons who aren't on a pre-submited event guestlist. i've seen this, for example, at every tech meetup held in a downtown office building i've ever been to in Manhattan and Philadelphia.

edit2: i've never actually challenged this, but i've been told that i would be denied entry if name not on list.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#16

Post by qeorge »

chriszf wrote: post #11
FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #7

> But here I was, helpless. The only thing I could do was direct her to BART and join the rest of the class inside ... or pull the class out and refuse to attend it out of principle?

I had another 9 students inside, and the talk was worthwhile for them. Furthermore, the problem was not with the organizers (who were generous and accommodating) or the speakers (who were similarly generous), but with the venue. Nothing would have been solved by protesting: I'm not important enough that anyone would have noticed.

Another option would be to leave with the student, and let your other "kids" stay if they want to.

That's a pretty shitty experience, to be the only one who can't get in and have to walk away alone. A little solidarity would have gone a long way.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#17

Post by chriszf »

mnicole wrote: post #12

I'm confused - they had a guestlist and everyone else in the class but her was on it, or none of your students were on it and they decided to exclude her personally?

They had a guest list and all my students were on it. This particular student was also on it, along with a note to exclude her specifically from entering the office.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#18

Post by feydr »

this is extremely common in a lot of meetups in SF - really the only reason they want your name on the list is so if you are a crazy homeless person looking for free booze and free food with a lot of expensive ass computer shit laying around you can't just waltz in

also, I am in that meetup group and yesterday was insane email traffic w/the amount of people that couldn't follow the most simplest of advice -- "we need your name"

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#19

Post by cschmidt »

briandear wrote: post #3

Yelp reviews are a big point of anger from many business owners and there's some valid security risks. However a name based policy is rather dumb.

I guess that is the underlying issue. Yelp is fundamentally a protection racket. "Those are some real nice reviews you have there - it would be a real shame for something to happen to them." I imagine that there are lots of business owners that would be a security risk. I wonder if Yelp people ask themselves if they might be doing something bad if people want to do them bodily harm.

Re: Apparently Yelp has a no-fly list

#20

Post by FuzzyDunlop »

chriszf wrote: post #11
FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #7

> But here I was, helpless. The only thing I could do was direct her to BART and join the rest of the class inside ... or pull the class out and refuse to attend it out of principle?

I had another 9 students inside, and the talk was worthwhile for them. Furthermore, the problem was not with the organizers (who were generous and accommodating) or the speakers (who were similarly generous), but with the venue. Nothing would have been solved by protesting: I'm not important enough that anyone would have noticed.

And it was worthwhile enough to tacitly agree to such a policy?

Edit: read your comment in a separate post. It would have been worthwhile not to abridge all the context out of your story.

Post reply on HN