We had about 9 core members who were all commited to paying above our proposed $50 a month member dues until we could get enough people to cover expenses, 16 members covers all of our costs. Luckily in the first month we had a radio interview and enough people interested in joining that August was the only month people needed to pay any extra. All of our publicity has been through twitter, that radio show, and word of mouth. We haven't been evangelizing for the past month as everything gets settled but I think we will start a member drive sometime in the next couple of months. <br>
<br>If anyone is looking for advice I'd suggest contacting any local media outlets, they are always looking for a good feel story about a bunch of people getting together to do cool things. Also talk about it at parties or when you are out, I'm surprised at how many people love to tinker or are interested in a place for geeky people. Third try selling the space as a cheap coworking place for those who free lance. Our place is not as nice as our local coworking space but its a hell of a lot cheaper. And finally hold frequent meetings, we are just cutting down from 2 a week but an openhack is a great way to give people a defined time to come check out the space and the people.<br>
<br>-Mark<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 6:25 PM, tetsu yatsu <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tetsuharu@gmail.com">tetsuharu@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I wonder, how did you grow? Was it one mass influx of members at an open house, after signing the lease? Did membership increase significantly after signing the lease? Was it word-of-mouth slow increase in membership?<br>
<br>
I've heard some labs who had close to hundred people interested before signing a lease, though maybe the barrier of entry for signing a lease was higher in a big city. <br><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Mark Huson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mehuman@gmail.com" target="_blank">mehuman@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I think the Baltimore Node started meeting in April and i know we just signed the lease in August. Strange how that worked out. We have about 17 paying members right now.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>-Mark</font><div><div></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 5:58 PM, Kive <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kive@kive.me" target="_blank">kive@kive.me</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br>Freeside Atlanta: started with 51 or 52, now somewhere around 60. We're "large" for the region, but we're hardly at capacity, I think.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>-kive</font><div><div></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 5:50 PM, Robert Ward <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:robert.t.ward@gmail.com" target="_blank">robert.t.ward@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Arch Reactor just hopped over into double digits, and oddly enough the following phrase applies to us exactly as well.<div>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
We're relatively new tho. Started meeting in April, 2009. Just got a space in August, 2009...<br>
</blockquote>
<br></div><div><div></div><div>
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