Catalyst Ranch’s
Creative Juice Blog
“Creativity is not like the weather: You can do something about it.” — John Kao, Jamming Why do people say that they need a change of environment or some fresh air when they feel that they’re getting caught in a rut, a routine, stuck on a problem that they can’t seem to be [...]
As meeting-success mavens, we have a specific set of fears that keep us up at night: An audience with blank stares. Multitasking attendees. Monotonous presentations. They’re nightmare situations we have in common with our Meeting Planner clients. Happily, meetings don’t have to be a drag. With a few smart strategies, you can turn passive participants [...]
Catalyst Ranch is more than just a meeting space. It’s the result of bringing together the myriad elements that make your meetings their most magical (Read: productive and satisfying). And one of the biggest of those elements is CREATIVITY. Like our RanchHand-facilitated Energizers, and Pogo’s Activity Arcade (our on-site collection of self-led games [...]
The creative life of our social media pilot Bryan, like that of many other Ranch staffers, goes well beyond the Catalyst confines. He shared with the Creative Juice Blog an inspiring team-building activity he created for his teaching artist colleagues in Chicago. With the holidays in full swing, I’m reminded of an uplifting team-building [...]
Now, we’re not officially sponsored by Lego, but it’s no surprise we’re big fans. Legos are so classic that they’re synonymous with childhood, and yet they are a symbol of imagination and creativity at every age. Today happens to be World Play Day, so dubbed by Lego as “a day dedicated to celebrating [...]
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 [...]
At Catalyst Ranch, our Ranch Hands are available to lead your team in a short "Energizer." This low-stakes, high-delight activity is a reliable way to get folks' heads in the game, and at any point in the day. Our collection of Energizers involve varying levels of introspection, competition and physicality, so there's always something that [...]
Any meeting is more enticing if you know someone’s bringing donuts. Fact. And that’s only the bare minimum application of the fact we all know: Food makes a gathering better. Food (and drink, if we're lucky!) accomplishes a lot: Food adds value for folks to physically arrive; Food gives you energy to keep up [...]
It’s no surprise we at Catalyst Ranch relish the announcement of Pantone’s Color of the Year. Vibrant color is, after all, a foundational design element for our spaces. This year, however, the Color of the Year hits a little different. Pantone has declared 2023 the year of ‘Viva Magenta,’ and since magenta is [...]
At Catalyst Ranch, Chicago’s creative meeting venue, our meeting rooms are equipped with all kinds of supplies to ensure the success of your meeting. One important staple is simply a pen cup on every table. You won’t just find your everyday black and blue ink pens in these colorful cups; they are stocked with [...]
