Can I factually claim we our the largest Makerspace in the world?

DMS General
#7

“Best” is a qualitative term any Makerspace could claim as it is subjective to the person making it - so no falsehood.

I just qualify my statement as stating we are the largest by paid membership that I know of in the US. I explain some are bigger but anyone can join and say they are member.

Our membership number reflects people that think there is true value worth paying for. I think that is an objective statement of fact.

At the end of the tour they can decide if they also think we are worth investing their time and money into.

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#8

Maybe “unequaled” is an appropriate superlative that would keep you out of court.

#9

I’m writing to an audience conveying the point that work done here today at our makerspace is likely to flagship and paradigm models at other Makerspaces the world over. It’s easier to back up and underscore this point with solid, simple statements such as “We’re the largest local membership makerspace in the world at over 1,400 members!” What’s the best way to factually say this in as few qualifying words as possible? Does anybody know of any reason why this wouldn’t be factually true?

#10

I think the word “paid” is what will keep you out of trouble and is accurate as it is a “fact” that can be checked and verified.

For example, many cities have makerspaces in some of their library branches or in their schools. Anyone with a library card or that is a student would validly be considered a member.

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#11

Dallas Makerspace is listed here, but membership shows 1150. It looks to be a wiki, so maybe someone can update it?

https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/Hackerspaces

Anyway, it’s a world database, so maybe with a bit of maneuvering you can determine rank by size? Download the database?

Best I can do for now. But I’d argue, if you can document it, you can claim it.

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#12

I think @Photomancer hits it dead on:
We believe with over 1,400 paid members,

We know of no reason it wouldn’t be true, and frankly, I think this leaves it open to being a challenge for others to contend they are larger (or confirm they are not). That doesn’t have to be liable; just a friendly contest.

You could also take your chances with the API and see if it measure up to the desires…
http://spaceapi.net/directory

In longer term, wonder if Popular Science would like to do a follow up article on the size of makerspaces…

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Pros & Cons: Whether to become a member based off a few forum posts vs meeting members in person
#13

How do we compare on areas of interest?

#14

Updated to 1430, I feel safe with putting in that number.

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#15

We didn’t have a page on big Wikipedia, so I created it. With our membership numbers, we’re certainly notable. I’ll edit more later, but anyone can if they feel so inclined. We should link to our page from the hackerspace wiki entry too.

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#16

Hold you horses folks… let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Check out Columbus, Ohio: https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/02/the-largest-makerspace-on-the-planet-opens-in-columbus-ohio/

I have not been there nor seen it…just a newspaper article.

#17

Gotta check the membership numbers on them. That article is talking about physical space

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#18

At one point we did have a page there. I gave up on doing any edits to en.wikipedia.org a very long time ago. I’ve had them revert my edits where I fixed obvious spelling errors… so don’t be surprised if they dump the page.

#19

From their website: "With more than 200 members and 75 member-entrepreneurs, we’re always working on something exciting at the shop. "

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#20

I’m stubborn, I’ll figure out how to make it stick. Right now it’s basic text… the wik-elitists probably won’t like it.

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#21

Search of Makerspaces ordered by Membership.
Based on the self reported numbers on Hakerspaces.org we are the 5th largest. However

  1. “Thinkbox” counts everyone that has ever walked through the door and I can’t find any numbers for active members. They are also part of and funded by Case Western Reserve University.

  2. “Titak Security Team” is BS

  3. “skeemipesa.ee” also seems like BS

  4. “Happylab” seems legit. They have 2 locations and at least 1500 total (both locations).

  5. “The London Hackspace” is definitely real but I can not corroborate their membership numbers but I have no reason to mistrust the self reported numbers.

Given this info I think we can confidently say:
“The Dallas Makerspace is the largest non-profit Member supported Makerspace in the U.S.”

Edit: This made my day: https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/P'yŏngyang_Hackerspace

I think they are underreporting their membership :stuck_out_tongue:

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#22

Well shit. We’re never going to beat numbers like that

#23

Crap. That humbles me. I know it can be done, but I don’t expect to ever be able to do it. Nice use of the skills.

#24

After some quick research about the Columbus Ohio Makerspace…

http://www.columbusideafoundry.com/

Here is their Member’s Handbook. Perhaps we could learn something by looking at the other Makerspaces and how they run their operations.

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#25

Once you figure out how to make it stick, I’ll update our numbers once a month. Just provide me the link. @Luis_Puente you may want to look at this and see what PR can gin up to make our presence and capabilities known.

#26

Alex and I have visited and met with their founder/CEO. A couple of things to note. They’re not a nonprofit and have paid staff making them an entirely different beast. Their building is HUGE but much of it is dedicated to personal usage by members renting out space–not a negative just a note. For example there was one person renting a space about the size of the CA room for their jewelry business. I know we aren’t largest in terms of square footage but from spaces I’ve visited we’re still very impressive in terms of amount of communal space. Spaces include rented out areas(from coworking cubbies to entire large offices) as part of their square footage.