Ask HN: Best way to conduct market research?

[jckund]

So I have an idea I'm trying to get feedback on from potential customers as to whether they would find it valuable. I've been calling various business event hosting companies and have pretty much got nothing but voicemail boxes. Is there a better strategy than this? What else could I be doing?

And to follow up, how can I better answer the question "who are my customers?"

[mooli7dm]

From what I understand you are trying to achieve, I think your best bet would be to find meetups (meetup.com) in your area and go attend a few.

Talk to the hosts and those who attend on what they think of your idea.

[gspyrou]

You could try using Google Consumer Surveys http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/examples

[jckund]

There has to be a better way than surveys right? I feel like nobody wants to answer those and it'd be incredibly difficult to target my specific customer.

Any other suggestions? I need to find potential customers before launching...