<div dir="ltr">I would agree that it would depend on the tools you have there. Also how well you advertise. As long as you have some tools that most people don't have at home because they live in a dorm or apartment like a table sander, bench grinder or electronics lab you should be able to attract plenty of people. The main idea is to have a space where people can come to work on their projects BECAUSE you have the space, tools, and other members with the skills to help them out.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 2:57 PM, Alan Fay <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:emptyset@freesideatlanta.org" target="_blank">emptyset@freesideatlanta.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Actually, I've attempted to do this to estimate the potential market for paying members for Freeside Atlanta.<div>
<br></div><div>The problem I ran into is a general lack of data - <a href="http://hackerspaces.org" target="_blank">hackerspaces.org</a> numbers for various spaces are not current, and there's not a clear consensus on what makes a "member" of a lot of these spaces (for estimate market potential, I don't want to count "free" or "friend of" members).</div>
<div><br></div><div>In some cases, the numbers reported on <a href="http://hackerspaces.org" target="_blank">hackerspaces.org</a> were 2-3x with the numbers on published financials, for the few hackerspaces that publish their financials online.</div>
<div><br></div><div>It's also a bit of an exercise in futility. Membership numbers are dependent on a number of factors: price, location, square footage, proximity to colleges, proximity to other hackerspaces in region dividing up the market, and most importantly the value of the space in terms of its space per member, materials, machinery, and community.</div>
<div><br></div><div>All that said, I would estimate you could reasonably expect to get at least 20 members in Birmingham, and possibly many more depending on the value of your space. Few hackerspaces report less than this number, unless they are very specialized or in a tiny market - this probably represents some kind of lower bound on the membership you need to barely scrape by (both in terms of finances, but also in volunteers to run things).</div>
<div><br></div><div>One figure I liked when researching this was the density (average number of members per 1000sqft) - I calculated a value of 19 members per 1000sqft. So, when considering what kind of size space to get, probably 2000-3000sqft is a good size to look for when just starting out, as it can support up to 50-60 members before it starts getting really crowded. </div>
<div><br></div><div>This squares with the Freeside experience - we're at 50 members now in about 6000sqft, and things still feel pretty roomy. We almost never have all 50 members in the space at the same time; usually it's like 20-25 max on our busiest days and nights.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I hope that helps! I'd love to get more accurate data and do this right; but I know it seems like very other couple of months everyone gets a new hackerspace survey.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 3:31 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:shirley@velochicdesign.com" target="_blank">shirley@velochicdesign.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Good morning everyone,<br>
<br>
List newbie here, part of a group getting a makerspace up and going in<br>
Birmingham, AL.<br>
<br>
Am wondering if any knows of or of anyone developing an algorithm or<br>
equation to predict a membership size range based on city or metro area<br>
population (or other factors)? Or from experience, has developed some<br>
simple rules of thumb? I'm writing our business plan and want, if at all<br>
possible to know if our predicted membership numbers that we're aiming for<br>
are realistic. (currently a business school iS student - who cheerully<br>
obsesses about such things)<br>
<br>
I'm prepared to slog through the current list on <a href="http://hackerspaces.org" target="_blank">hackerspaces.org</a> and do<br>
the analysis, but being lazy, wanted to see if anyone else had done it<br>
first. :)<br>
<br>
For context, B'ham AL is a spread out smear of a city, pop. 212,000,<br>
within a municipally fractured greater metro area of 1.1 million.<br>
<br>
Shirley Hicks<br>
<a href="mailto:shirley@velochicdesign.com" target="_blank">shirley@velochicdesign.com</a><br>
<a href="mailto:hickssr@uab.edu" target="_blank">hickssr@uab.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://www.redmountainmakers.org" target="_blank">www.redmountainmakers.org</a><br>
Birmingham, AL<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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