Here is a (distilled) conversation largely between @SeanHoulihane and I on the chat today:
Sean Houlihane: @thesecretmaster Lots of questions is to be expected in the first few days - several coming directly from the A51 proposers. Typical beta activity is a burst of activity, then a quiet period. What is critical is how long before the #q per day gets back over 1 or 2.
Choirbean: @Sean How long does it normally take for that burst to end?
Sean Houlihane: IoT.se has just got up to 500 vists per day (1.4 questions per day) after 5 months. Looks (and its too early to tell) if there was a minimum about a month ago.
Choirbean: We would expect this site to die down quite a lot during the summer months, and then have far more traffic in the fall. Teachers :)
Sean Houlihane: Summer's going to be tough to keep the momentum up. People only come back if there is content.
Choirbean: I suspect that September/October will be a much more meaningful test for this site. If the SE overlords are truly looking for momentum over the summer, then this site is doomed from the start.
Sean Houlihane: No, I don't think doom is inevitable. They will expect to see some active high-rep users handling the queues, and so long as it's self-maintaining they should be happy. Target is 3k rep in open beta - needs 3 or 4 minimum for the site to function.
So, the question for us to tackle as a group is, how do we work to ensure that activity really does resume in September? It would be a pity to see this whole enterprise die just because we had the rotten luck to start in late May, just before schools close for the summer. Is there something we can do now to lay the groundwork to ensure that this site will continue as a resource for years to come?