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Where are you located? The location of your space is also key... we
were in a old industrial complex one member called "Assault Town"
(though we never experienced any assaults) it was not a place that
most women would feel comfortable going to alone at night. (I know,
because I asked one.) <br>
<br>
Our new space is in a great part of town, with lots of nearby
businesses, houses, and a vibrant arts community. With all that and
the clean bathrooms, we're hoping we can appeal to more people who
didn't feel comfortable hanging out in a filthy old industrial
complex.<br>
<br>
<br>
Pete<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/18/13 12:00 PM, Zack Freedman
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:2228F31CC87B4EA0B7C59C1859832D3D@gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">It seems like many hackerspaces get
women through the doors but scare them off. The MakerBar has a
slightly different problem - women simply never show up in the
first place!</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">Of the 750+ people who have come
through our doors, perhaps ten have been women. I'm wondering
how to increase this.</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">I can't figure out why - our
marketing mix of Twitter, Meetup organic traffic, flyer
campaigns, word-of-mouth, and presenting at relevant
Meetups/collectives have worked wonders, but are only bringing
in dudes. None of these are really male-oriented, which makes
the results odd.</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">We run two open houses a week, sell
off-the-shelf and custom soldering kits, have two
beginner/intermediate classes on Arduino, RasPi, etc per month,
and have a social/games night every month. Our members do
programming, woodworking, electronics, soft circuits, circuit
bending, etc. Interest and attendance have been at an all-time
high, but again, all male.</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">So, I'm wondering what the MakerBar
needs to do to get a better balance. Are there events/classes
that attract more women? What marketing works/turns off women?
Might our location in a converted warehouse be scaring girls
away? Is this even a problem?</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">Women of the hackerspace universe,
how did you find out about your current space? What event
brought you in?</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">For what it's worth, our
'stickiness' with women may even be better than men. Of those
~10 women who've shown up, one is a member and two are diehard
class and open-house addicts who come back very often. Almost
all of our members are married or in committed relationships;
either way, we're a pretty classy and non-creeper bunch that I
can't see scaring anyone away.</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">It must be awkward being the only
girl at a space, and I'd like to get a critical mass to make
anyone, no matter what demographic, more comfortable.</div>
<div>-- <br>
Zack Freedman // MakerBar // Hardware Hacker from the Near
Future
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