Catalyst Ranch’s
Creative Juice Blog
Social Media Week is coming back to Chicago for a second year and we're very excited to be part of it again on September 25th. Last year, we hosted a lively and informative panel about how the different generational groups use social media differently. Within that panel, we found the inspiration for our event this year. [...]
If anyone can attest to the joys (and challenges) of being a creative entrepreneur, it’d be our owner Eva Niewiadomski! In a recent interview with Womenetics, she said: “I worked at Quaker Oats for 15 years. My last year there was post the Pepsi merger with Quaker Oats. As is typical with mergers, the environment is stressful as the organizations try to meld together two disparate cultures. It was just not a good fit anymore for either of us. I took the severance package and decided to take this once in a lifetime opportunity and start my own business.”
It’s that time again, Ranch fans - time to introduce our brand new giveaway prize for the month of June! So if you like puzzles or just want to channel your inner architect, you will love this 3D puzzle of the Empire State Building in New York City. Made of paper & foam board, it can [...]
As I mentioned last time, I may be a bit annoying about recycling. (I may be annoying in general, but that is for a different blog site) I promised that I would write a bit about the steps that Catalyst Ranch has taken to reduce our carbon footprint, create less waste, and use less energy. In [...]
As a wee little boy, my dad would give my brother and I sips of his Pepsi out of the glass bottle. He would then let us put the bottles back into the cardboard six-packs after he had finished them. Dad always postulated that his beloved Pepsi tasted so much better when it came out of [...]
Who doesn’t like robots?! Well now you can have one of your very own to build & decorate as you wish! The amazing Calafant Calabot Robot is made from high-quality cardboard & pieces together with no glue or adhesive required. Standing at about 21” high, it’s as big as some kids! Stretch the limits of your [...]
Would you like a chance to add a little piece of the Ranch, along with some international flair to your home? Well, the Ranch is offering just that with our latest giveaway prize for the month of March! From the Museum Shop of The Art Institute of Chicago comes this beautiful reproduction of a Tang Lady [...]
The City of Chicago celebrates its 175th birthday on March 4, 2012! The celebration falls on the day Chicago's charter was approved by the State of Illinois and became an official city in 1837. At the time, Chicago's population was documented at only 4,150 residents. Today's Chicago is hovering around 2.7 million residents citywide and is [...]
When I first started at the Catalyst Ranch four and a half years ago, I never thought I would be behind my own desk here, reminiscing. But I was asked to help figure out why the Ranch is so good at retaining top employees, and I figured my tale was an apropos one. I mean, I [...]
Join us here at Catalyst Ranch next Thursday, January 26th, as we celebrate self employment. The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship (IAE) will be teaming up with WBEZ’s Front & Center to host a resource fair for the self employed, small businesses, start-ups, and freelancers. Perfect for those creative professionals that are no longer working in traditional [...]