The MakersLounge event playbook

Same community, same city, very different show-up. Pick the format for the job, not the other way round. Show-up is the share of approved guests who checked in.

• Workshops

  80% show-up

  Everyone leaves with something running.

  Use it when

  You have a concrete outcome to promise ("you'll leave with an agent running") and a room small enough for hosts to help each person.

  The best show-up of any format. Fund these first.

• Meetups

  35% show-up

  The front door. Show what you're building, meet one new person.

  Use it when

  Monthly, on a fixed night, so new people have an easy first step and regulars have a habit.

  Cheap to run. New people find you here, then come back for workshops.

• Hackathons

  21% show-up

  Teams form on the night and demo at the end.

  Use it when

  A partner wants to meet builders and helps cover the night. An AI intake form groups people by interest so teams start building in minutes.

  Approval costs nothing, so the list leaks. Only with a partner.

• Maker Mondays

  online

  Short online demo nights between in-person events.

  Use it when

  The weeks with no in-person night, so the community doesn't go quiet for a month.

  Online, so there's no check-in number. Judge it by who shows up in person next.

Two and a half hours in the room, plus the work either side. A first-timer should know what happens next; a regular should get something new.

1. 1 week beforePost the event. Approve registrations by hand as they come in.
2. Day beforeReminder to approved guests. Cael gives me one line on each: who they are, what they're building, who they should meet.
3. 0:00Doors and check-in. Hosts greet first-timers by name and point them at one person to talk to.
4. 0:20Welcome, five minutes: what MakersLounge is and how the night runs.
5. 0:30Demos. A few builders, five minutes each, one question from the room each.
6. 1:10Open floor. Hosts make introductions from the who-should-meet list.
7. 2:15Last call. Everyone names one person they'll follow up with.
8. 2:30Close.
9. Within 48 hoursA personal follow-up to everyone who came. Template below.

Approve every registration by hand. The room is the product, so who gets in is a host's call. An agent can rank people. It can't host.

Then approve for the room you want, not the seats you have: approve about seats ÷ show-up rate. For a 30-seat room:

• Workshop

  Approve 38

  80% show-up, about 1.25× the seats

• Meetup

  Approve 86

  35% show-up, about 3× the seats

• Hackathon

  Approve 143

  21% show-up, about 5× the seats

Everyone who checked in gets a personal note within 48 hours, while they still remember the night. Cael drafts each one from what the person told us when they registered. I read it, fix it, and send it myself: my name, my click. Each follow-up becomes a task tagged with the event, so when a chat turns into something real I can trace it back to the night it started.

Subject: Good to meet you at {event}

Hi {first name},

Thanks for coming to {event} on {day}. You said you're building {what they told us at registration}.

{One specific thing from the night, or one person to meet: "You should talk to {name}, who's working on {their project}."}

The next one is {next event} on {date}: {link}

Robert

The one specific thing is the whole point. If you can't write it, you didn't talk to them, and that's worth knowing too.

Fund a format by who walks in, not who signs up. Signups are free to give, so they reward the wrong thing.

1. Fund first

   Workshops. Four in five approved people show up.

2. Keep cheap

   Meetups. They're the front door, so keep them running on a small budget.

3. Partner only

   Hackathons. Run one when a sponsor wants the builders and helps cover the night.

4. Cut

   Any format under 25% show-up two events in a row gets cut or redesigned. Hackathons sit under that line today, which is why they only run with a partner.