Catalyst Ranch’s
Creative Juice Blog
Try as you might to hold onto the summer, here comes autumn! And it's looking you straight in the eye, barreling at you with no sign of slowing. And from this angle, you can see the whole '23/'24 fiscal year trailing close behind, laid out before you clear as day. That is, you can [...]
Facilitator Spotlight: Ah Ha! What is Ah Ha! and what do you do? Ah Ha! has been facilitating insight and innovation for over 20 years! We are a facilitation and consulting company that works to inspire people, connect knowledge and illuminate possibilities. Our custom-designed, facilitated sessions can include qualitative research, ideation, design thinking and strategic planning. [...]
Why Fly Fishing Beats a Net By Vickie Austin There are many paradoxes when marketing yourself or your business, and one of the most powerful paradoxes is “The narrower your focus, the wider your opportunity.” This defies logic. You’d think that a broad, sweeping approach might be best–something like fishing with a big net. Picture someone [...]
Levi is an innovator and entrepreneur who is bringing together other innovators and entrepreneurs in a spirit of collaboration in a no-pressure environment. He brings this spirit to the West Loop when Coffee & Conversation comes to Catalyst Ranch in February. Name: Levi Baer Name of Your Company: Second Shift, teacher at DePaul University, and leader [...]
Photo Credit: Tommie Hansen via creativecommons.org Should I Really Admit This? How to Find Common Ground at Networking Events I belong to a private club in downtown Chicago. It occupies a regal, historic building. Membership requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, three letters of support from current members, and an ability to shoulder a monthly [...]
At Catalyst Ranch we know that food is a essential component for any successful meeting. Who doesn't love tasty morsels to keep their brain working? Well, we are happy to announce that we now have a Kosher Catering partner for both our meeting side and our event side. Name: Linda Neiman Name of your Company: Zelda’s [...]
Most Interesting Person: Ali Karbassi Over the past 15 years I’ve worked in many different industries; Professional photographer, senior web developer at web firms and advertising agencies, product developer at an Internet of Things startup, Technology Director at a product-based company, and CEO of a non-profit to name a few. Each has revolved around my love [...]
We sat down with Holly Birnbaum, one of the founders of Thoughtly Crew, to ask about Creative Thinking Agents, consumer market research groups, and partnering with Catalyst Ranch. Here's what she said! Who is Thoughtly Crew? Thoughtly Crew, the world's first independent pool of creative consumers, was launched in 2005 by Holly Birnbaum, Scott Cheney [...]
by Ida Abdalkhani It’s interesting how of my varied journeys and adventures in life—getting my MBA right after my undergraduate degrees (with no full-time work experience), going from corporate employee to entrepreneur, becoming a laughter yoga instructor, and even bungee jumping in Victoria Falls—the one thing that people most want to talk about is my backpacking [...]
We wanted to get the real dirt on focus groups (without spoiling client confidentiality of course), so we reached out to our recruiting partner, Heidi, who gave us the lowdown. We asked a few questions. . . CR - What was your most interesting focus group? Heidi - The most interesting focus group involved women who [...]
