Catalyst Ranch is Chicago's premiere creative meeting and event space!
Catalyst Ranch has meeting space for rent, for corporate and nonprofit meetings, focus groups, and weddings and other celebrations. Our one-of-a-kind environment immerses you in color and stimulation, sparking innovation and creativity. Our four rooms range in size from 300 to 3,000 square feet, and can be used in any combination to achieve the desired format of your event. Since there are so many
possibilities for your day at the Ranch, please call one of our Client Services Managers for a quote, (312) 207-1710.
11/22/2024
🎷This goes straight to one Elizabeth Foster, who so graciously brought our charity fundraiser THIIIS CLOOOSE 🤏🏽to our modest goal! Thank you, Elizabeth, for your generosity in helping us help the Greater Chicago Food Depository!
WHO will bring us to — nay, OVER — our first goal in the Catalyst Ranch Anniversary Fundraiser?? Remember, our FULL MATCH makes your tax-deductible donation go twice as far! Donate here 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 https://bit.ly/Catalyst-Ranch-turns-22
11/21/2024
Jim Valavanis of V-Consulting, Inc wears many hats including, but not limited to, Entrepreneur; Technology Wizard; and Ally in the Fight Against Hunger. Thank you so much, Jim, for contributing to our Anniversary Fundraiser for Greater Chicago Food Depository — We’re excited to MATCH your generous donation!
❤️ Follow Jim’s lead and donate to our FULL MATCH fundraiser at the LINK IN BIO!
11/20/2024
Our charity fundraiser commemorating 22 years goes 'til, fittingly, Nov. 22! And we're sooo close to our modest goal…
Won't you chip in a few dollars to push us to the finish line? Let's come through for Chicago's Food Bank ❤️ Thank you, !
Your donation will go TWICE AS FAR: We're MATCHING your donation for our big 22!
11/15/2024
Give Brent Rolland those flowers for doing us — and Chicagoland — a solid!! Thank you for your considerate contribution to our Anniversary Fundraiser for . We appreciate you for always getting the party started, as we’ve come to expect from that 🔥 crew…
❤️ Follow Brent’s lead and donate to our FULL MATCH fundraiser at the LINK IN BIO!
11/11/2024
Let’s show up for our neighbors, Chicagoland! For our Ranch Anniversary, we’re raising funds for the Greater Chicago Food Depository — and MATCHING every dollar collected!
In times of change and upheaval, one small but meaningful act is to contribute to a local organization and directly impact your community.
💖 Craig Roberts did just that with a gracious contribution to our Anniversary Fundraiser and, in doing so, helped provide meals and services to our neighbors in need. Thank you, Craig!
Will you be next? For our big TWO-TWO, your donation helps TIMES TWO with our full match of every dollar we raise for the Greater Chicago Food Depository . Donate now: https://bit.ly/Catalyst-Ranch-turns-22
And thank you, Chicagoland, for your neighborliness through these years. 🫶🏽
11/01/2024
🫶🏽Huge thanks to our Founder, Eva Niewiadomski , for her generous donation to our Anniversary Fundraiser! It will go a long way in fighting hunger in our neighborhoods.
Will you be next? For our big TWO-TWO, your donation helps TIMES TWO with our full match of every dollar we raise!
>>>Donate now here: https://bit.ly/Catalyst-Ranch-turns-22
10/31/2024
Happy Halloween, ghouls and ghosts and goths! 💀 Did you know for some cultures, the season of contemplating death and the afterlife extends through November 2? Get the skinny on Día de los Mu***os and the holiday's events around Chicago, in our latest Creative Juice Blog post!
Halloween is a tradition that for a lot of people started when we were kids. It’s all about the fun we have getting scared. The main event was of course trick or treating, going out in our costumes with a group of friends and going to as many houses as we could.
10/22/2024
Happy TWOSday! For our 22nd Anniversary, we're having a fundraiser for Greater Chicago Food Depository — and for the big TWO-TWO, we're making your contribution go TWICE as far: We'll MATCH your donation to help us fight hunger in Chicagoland. >>> https://myfooddrives.org/Catalyst-Ranch-turns-22
Thank you for all these years of championing creativity and connection with us! 💞
Your donation will go TWICE AS FAR: We're MATCHING your donation for our big 22!
10/17/2024
This ain't a run-of-the-mill parade, y'all. It's especially artful, it's diverse and equitable, and it lifts up youth artists and makers. Chicago, you gotta be proud to host Arts in the Dark, now celebrating 10 years strong!
Read about it in the latest Creative Juice Blog post, and see the spectacle this Saturday evening in the Loop. 💀🥁🎺💡🌘
Chicago is host to such a wide range of events at any given time, bringing people together, in environments that allow you to interact with the city around you. There are art showings and installations, music at cozy blues clubs and huge festivals, food tasting events in the parks, and so much
09/27/2024
Art and innovation run high this weekend as the Stop Motion Plant company brings their monthly Salon back to Catalyst Ranch on Sunday! The performance artist community in Chicago has a haven in these Salons, where experimental and underrepresented art forms can be tried out with an audience in a communal atmosphere.
Find more information about attending the Salon at the link...
Performance art cohort Stop Motion Plant beings their monthly Salon to Catalyst Ranch. Performers present new works to a receptive audience.
09/20/2024
We think the city has had one for the books, and we're not talking about heat index. There were history-making music fests, yes, but one event was the most impactful in our estimation. See what we are inspired by, in our latest Creative Juice Blog post!
Our meeting space, Catalyst Ranch, was designed to grease the wheels of important work and idea making. As such, we’re proud that we’ve been a destination not just for large businesses but also for nonprofit and community organizations. At the neighborhood level, there’s so much that can be do...
09/18/2024
We've chatted with author Erin Diehl about her debut book at its launch earlier this year, but it's time to officially add 'I SEE YOU' to Our Catalyst Ranch Bookshelf recommendations. You can meet Erin tonight, when the improve it team returns to the Ranch for 'Don't Tell HR,' a networking workshop designed for L&D and HR professionals.
RSVP for the event (https://bit.ly/4evt7oK), and find the book here before the event — it's the first hard-copy from Our Catalyst Ranch Bookshelf list of insightful reads that we have available to peruse on-site! Have a great time tonight, Erin and improve it!
09/12/2024
In just 6 days, improve it returns to Catalyst Ranch with a special workshop for L&D and HR professionals! "Don't Tell HR" will have you exploring improv comedy techniques to up your networking game. Get in that room on Wednesday, Sept 19 >>> Find more info and the ticket link below!
Join L&D and HR Pros not just for networking--but a 90-minute networking workshop to help you sharpen your skills, connect, and grow.
09/11/2024
Tonight's the night! Knowledge-sharing and industry connections happen at American Marketing Association Chicago's Connex event, tonight at 6pm. All Chicagoland marketing professionals welcome, AMA members and non-members alike!
More info and ticket link below 👇🏽
Stay connected through Connex! AMA Chicago brings together colleagues, friends, entrepreneurs and creative professionals.
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❤️We are SO grateful for the generous donation by the West Loop Community Organization to our FULL MATCH fundraiser for the Greater Chicago Food Depository! How will YOU take action on #WorldKindnessDay today? Drop a dollar or ten here: https://bit.ly/Catalyst-Ranch-turns-22
The idea for Catalyst Ranch was born on a quiet, sunny day in early June, 2002. Eva Niewiadomski did her typical morning routine, hopped on the subway downtown and by 8:00am was hard at work at her job as New Products Marketing Manager in the Convenience Foods Division of Frito-Lay (most recently Quaker Oats, before the PepsiCo purchase). The division had just gone through a restructuring and Eva was excited about the new platforms she would be working on. What she thought was a meeting with her boss to talk about new priorities and projects actually turned out to be a discussion about her impending layoff at the end of August, 2002. Although it had been expected for a while, it still was a bit of a shock that the day had actually arrived. Thankfully, Eva had been thinking about what she’d want to do after leaving Quaker and the idea of Catalyst Ranch crystallized that very same evening.
And what was that idea exactly? Catalyst Ranch would forge a new category for the city of Chicago – a Creative Meeting & Event Space. It would be an independent boutique conference center with a creative environment that would incorporate breakout space within the main meeting room. And the customer service would be comprehensive so that the meeting planner or facilitator could focus on the content of the meeting vs. all the behind the scenes details.
The core precepts of the idea came from a variety of sources. Eva had created two Innovation Hallways and a Creativity Room for Quaker, which had been enthusiastically received by her co-workers. As a trained facilitator, she’d had lots of experience putting together creative environments in non-traditional locations and knew the additional heavy burden that creating those environments engendered. Her home was decorated in a style all her own - a mix of vintage and ethnic furnishings and artwork – which friends enjoyed continually exploring and discovering something new.
Once the idea was spoken aloud, the work began apace. In a matter of 5 months (3 of which she was still working full time at Pepsi), Eva conducted qualitative research, developed a business plan and financial forecast, searched for a site, hit garage and estate sales, refinished furniture, started building a client base, developed a marketing plan and tackled all the other millions of tasks that a good entrepreneur must fit into her day.
Thank goodness dad at age 78 was a willing and available first employee. Before he knew it, he was stripping furniture, fixing and refinishing it and doing re-upholstery work full time. The lease was signed in mid- September and work began the following week. The space was completely raw – only the HVAC systems and bathrooms were in place, along with a few walls here and there.
Here’s where all the project management skills developed while launching new products really came into play. Eva ended up being the on-site construction manager, coordinating carpenters, drywallers, electricians, painters and hordes of volunteers (she never fully realized how many wonderful, generous friends she had until then). Construction was completed in a matter of 5 weeks. Time was of the essence as there were already three bookings in the month of November. Sight unseen!
In preparation for our first meeting in early November, the small crew of volunteers stayed up all night putting on the finishing touches and the last pane of glass for the French doors slid into place at 5:30am. The first client arrived at 7:00am.
The business grew by leaps and bounds from that day forward. We outgrew the 9,000 sq. ft. of the 3rd floor and started having to turn business away. So 3 years later the build-out of 4E began, adding an additional 6,000 sq. ft. and two new rooms. Since then we’ve split one of the rooms to add a focus group capability, adding two-way mirrors and lots of specialized A/V equipment and an observation room.
Since first opening our doors, Catalyst Ranch has been featured in articles in various noted publications in the United States including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, American Way Magazine, Crain’s Chicago Business and Inc. Magazine. We’re also featured in four books, “Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed” by Chip Bell and James Patterson, “From Workplace to Playspace” by Pamela Meyer,“Disciplined Dreaming” by Josh Linkner and “Marketing Research: Methodological Foundations” by Gilvert A. Churchill, Jr.
The meetings continue as do the special events. Throughout the years we’ve hosted hundreds of celebrations – weddings, bar & bat mitzvahs, anniversary parties, birthday parties, fundraisers and anything else that warrants a gathering of friends and family.
