Hi Chattlab!
I'm a member of LVL1, a hackerspace located in Louisville, KY. This summer, I'm doing research on hacker/makerspaces by traveling to ~30 of them throughout the eastern US and collecting data on how they work, what they provide for their community, and what kind of people frequent them. The end goal is to provide a better, more accurate portrait of the hacker/maker movement than currently exists. I am funded through a university scholarship (I go to Univ. of Louisville), and the only purpose of the project is to collect the data and share it back with the maker community. This is a continuation of a project I started last summer, visiting 24 makerspaces across the western US.
I will be in Chattanooga next Thursday, June 11th, and I would love to stop by your space and talk with you all. It helps for the survey to be able to talk to someone who can answer questions about membership numbers, finances, etc. Is there anyone who is knowledgable about that sort of stuff who would be willing to meet with me at the space for an hour or so next Thursday?
Thank you,
-Caleb Sheehan
calebsheehan.com
lvl1.org