= <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.38; background-color: transparent;">Gathering Empirical Data:</span><br/> =
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.38; background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.38; background-color: transparent;">Whether you are convincing a jury or you are trying to convince stakeholders to offer their resources towards your project, having empirical data will be the key to your success. Having concrete data that shows that a makerspace is wanted and needed by the student body. Stakeholders need to have the ability to justify what they spend their budget on, and they are not going to do the research for you. Therefore being able to approach stakeholders with relevant, accurate and persuasive data will determine your success.</span><br/><span id="docs-internal-guid-ba11c5fd-6112-61e9-41b8-7faa676920b9"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">There are many ways to gather information about the interest of your student body towards your project and the effectiveness will differ based on campus culture. That being said here are a few ideas to get you started…</span></span>
*<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba11c5fd-6112-61e9-41b8-7faa676920b9"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">-</span><span style="font-size: 9.33333px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Start an emailing list.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba11c5fd-6112-61e9-41b8-7faa676920b9"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">-</span><span style="font-size: 9.33333px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Start a Facebook page.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba11c5fd-6112-61e9-41b8-7faa676920b9"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">-</span><span style="font-size: 9.33333px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Send out surveys.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba11c5fd-6112-61e9-41b8-7faa676920b9"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">-</span><span style="font-size: 9.33333px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Talking with clubs.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba11c5fd-6112-61e9-41b8-7faa676920b9"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">-</span><span style="font-size: 9Hosting competitions.33333px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Hosting competitions.</span>*</span> <span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">-</span><span style="font-size: 9.33333px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Add people to the emailing list by engaging with students around campus asking about their interest and asking </span><span style="color:#ffffffrgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">.</span></span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">them to sign-up for the emailing list.</span>