Catalyst Ranch

How The Beatles Nearly Ruined My Life… and David Bowie Saved It
2017-04-23 15:00 - 17:30 UTC | Catalyst Ranch, 656 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL, 60661, United States
How The Beatles Nearly Ruined My Life…
and David Bowie Saved It
Written and Performed by Ben Hollis
with musical support by John Siegle
Directed by Paul Quinn

Too late to live the life you were meant to live?
“Frick No!” says Ben Hollis. The eight-time Emmy-winner (Wild Chicago, WTTW) and local TV legend makes his case in this high-energy musical revelation of honest comedy and original songs.
“How The Beatles…” tells the story of how a chubby American kid obsessed with “being adored” satisfies his ridiculously self-centered desires — and overcomes them… with a little help in the 11th hour from the spirit of Ziggy Stardust himself.
Hilarious slides punctuate Hollis’s two-act tale, providing cultural signposts along the way (e.g. Julie Newmar, Black Sabbath and The Dave Clark Five.)
Boomers will find it irresistible to reflect on their own journeys as chronicled by Hollis (roughly 1957 to 1996.) Plenty of Top 40 Hit earworms sweeten the mix too, energetically performed by Hollis and musical collaborator John Siegle.
The songs and stories shared in this show cover many relatable life experiences:
Lusting after TV stars; being a fat kid; losing your virginity (but not enjoying it); falling in love (and feeling the pain); marrying the wrong person; going after a career for really stupid reasons; honestly facing your own bullshit; marrying the right person (even with kids from a previous marriage — and marrying her anyway); and finding the courage to go for what you really want.
Seeing The Beatles chased by pretty, screaming girls set up Ben Hollis for a life of narcissistic pursuits – and disappointments. But upon seeing the “David Bowie Is…” exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in late 2014, Hollis finally grasps Bowie’s message: “Fully embrace who you are. This may be your last dance!”
Does he succeed? You be the judge!

NAWBO: The Talent Emergency
2017-04-18 10:00 - 12:00
The Talent Emergency: The 5 Fundamental Truths to the Future of the Human Side of Profitability
NAWBO Member and Author, Nicole Martin will talk to her newly released book, “THE TALENT EMERGENCY,” on how we are living through the biggest shift of human capital in our lifetimes. Businesses are facing multigenerational, multicultural dynamics in addition to shrinking talent pools. For businesses seeking to retain, attract or compete with talent in the coming five years, The Talent Emergency will shed light on areas that can optimize the human side of profitability.
Nicole will address these 5 fundamental truths:

How to Attract the Best Talent
The Power of Managers of Choice
How to Prepare Talent for the Future
How to Become a High Performing Team
Create the Ultimate Culture for Your Company

Attendees that pre-register will receive a FREE copy of The Talent Emergency, a $19.95 value! On-site registrants can purchase a full priced copy at the workshop.
Nicole Martin is a Purpose Driven Leader. As CEO and Founder of HRBoost, LLC she has established a dedicated resource to provide business owners and executives with hands-on support and best practice solutions to a myriad of workplace challenges. Nicole is a frequently sought-after speaker and author. As a dynamic and empowering consultative leader and futurist, she is skilled and proven in helping organizations meet their strategic objectives through their people. With an inspired, approachable personality she has proven her skill in partnering with business leaders to achieve results with sustainable returns.
Nicole’s expertise spans all business sectors including Private, Public, Financial Services, Non-Profit and Manufacturing. She is recognized as a strategic professional in Human Resources and holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management with an undergraduate degree in Business and Psychology.
In recognition of her commitment to professional excellence and her community, Nicole has been honored as a Daily Herald Business Ledger Influential Women in Business, a Women of Distinction honoree, a 2016 Enterprising Women of the Year Champion by Enterprising Women Magazine, and most recently as a 2017 honoree by The Business Ledger’s Awards for Business Excellence.

What If Chicago Were NOT Broke
2017-04-11 18:30 - 20:00
What If Chicago Were NOT Broke – Implications for Our Future
by Tom Tresser
We are told by the mayor and a host of experts that Chicago is broke. They sold our parking meters. They closed 49 public schools, They closed six public health centers. City services are being trimmed. Public school budgets slashed and hundreds of teachers laid off. At the same time our property taxes and a host of regressive fees are rammed down our civic throats. What if Chicago were NOT broke? This presentation will introduce you to the authors and ideas from “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve.” A team of civic experts have written short articles outlining how we can save and generate major, sustainable and progressive revenues to make Chicago work for EVERYONE. Tom Tresser and other authors will tell us how Chicago is so NOT broke. More info at www.wearenotbroke.org.
After the presentation, we will have Q&A and books will be for sale ($12) and signing.

The 10(0) Things Entrepreneurs Should Always/Never Do
2017-04-06 18:00 - 20:00
The 10(0) Things Entrepreneurs Should Always/Never Do
with Danny Schuman

Come join other Chicago entrepreneurs as we put together a list of tips and tools for entrepreneurial success. It’ll be a fun and productive event to share what you know and learn what you don’t. Each person will leave with his or her own Top Ten to take away and use.
Danny Schuman has spent the past several months interviewing entrepreneurs who he calls UDOTs: Us Doing Our Thing. It’s the massive and constantly growing group of people who are out on their own, doing what they love, what they’re good at and passionate about it, but aren’t so in love with, good at, or passionate about the other side of being a UDOT: the legal, administrative, business development, etc part of the business. The stuff that gets in the way of doing what they love.
Those UDOT interviews have helped inform Danny’s to-be-published book on UDOTs, called The Worst Business Model in the World. They’ve also helped him start amassing a list of do’s and don’ts for achieving success as a UDOT.
We’ll use his learnings as a starting point, and collaborate on a list of tips—things you should always do, and things you should never do—to help entrepreneurs do what you do better.
Come share, get inspired, and further your journey as a UDOT!

Bring March in Like a Lion with Ignite Chicago!
2017-03-28 18:00 - 20:00
Ignite is a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have a burning idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it with their hometown crowd.
Speaking at Ignite is an unforgettable experience. You step up to the mic. Your palms sweat. You can hear the thump of your blood rushing. Your voice cracks for an instant and then you launch into a rant for 300 straight seconds, wearing your passion on your sleeve, barely pausing to breathe. The crowd goes wild.
Ignite Chicago is open to everyone. All talks are 5 minutes (20 slides x 15 seconds/slide).

There is no theme for Ignite. You can talk about virtually anything as long as you can show us your passion for it. What’s the thing you most geek out about? What’s the topic of conversation that quickens your pulse and sets your toe a-tappin’? That is what we want to hear you speak about.
All speakers get equal time and equal billing. All talks are 5 minutes. You create 20 slides, and we set them up to auto-advance every 15 seconds.
Want to speak?
The audience at Ignite is generous and patient. They know the Ignite format is difficult, and they realize you might be an absolute beginner at public speaking. Don’t worry – they’ve got your back. You’re giving them your passion and your vulnerability, and they love you for that. You won’t find a more appreciative audience at any other event.

Some people think Ignite is about self-help talks. It isn’t. Nobody wants to hear a preachy pep talk. We’re already “good enough and smart enough,” so let’s keep this about you and your passionate ideas.
Finally, we’re serious about the no pitching thing. We know that sometimes a speaker must mention their profession in order to give their talk context, which is totally fine. But Ignite is not the place to tout your organization or to troll for clients.
Click the logo below for tickets

WLCO Presents "it's all about impact"
2017-03-23 18:30 - 20:00

improveit!'s Q1 Business Improv Public Workshop
2017-02-28 18:00 - 20:15
Are you a business professional who would like to learn creative techniques to think more quickly on your feet during a meeting or at a presentation? Are you a leader or manager looking to enhance collaboration across your team? Are you the type of person who is always trying to be the best version of yourself?
Most importantly, are you the kind of person who likes…FUN?!?
Then, say no more! Come join improve it! in our quarterly public workshop, and we’ll teach you the healing powers of improv for the workplace.
Our energetic and unique workshop will highlight the impact that improvisational techniques can have on your communication skills, and overall professional presentational presence! (Try saying that five times fast.)
Over the course of two hours, you will participate in an interactive lecture and series of improvisation-based exercises led by professional improvisers. By the end of the workshop we guarantee you will have learned and practiced how to:

Communicate ideas clearly to your peers
Trust your first instinct rather than overthink
Receive and respond to feedback more easily
Tune into your own brand of spontaneity!

The workshop will be led by improve it!’s founder, Erin Diehl, and three of improve it!’s professional improvisers — all who have trained and performed at top theaters in Chicago and around the United States. The workshop will provide you with an intimate, and hands-on experience to show you exactly what we do.
What do we do? We’re glad you asked…
improve it! LLC is a Chicago-based company that provides high-energy, laughter-filled corporate events & team building workshops that incorporate improvisation teams & techniques, while donating a portion of proceeds to charity. To learn more about improve it! visit www.improveitchicago.com.
Sound good to you? Great! We’ll see you there.
Additional Details:
Time: February 28th, Registration opens at 6:00 p.m. and the workshop will begin promptly at 6:15 p.m.
Contact the organizer: Please contact Erin Diehl, founder of improve it! with any questions at info@improveitchicago.com.

TIME Salon: The Plagiarists Fundraiser
2017-02-27 20:00 - 23:00
The Plagiarists’ mission is to steal from literature, visual art, history, and the culture at large to create new creative expression that finds the familiar in the strange, the unique in the commonplace, and ultimately enlarges the world. Plagiarist Salons are another way we put our theory into practice, providing a forum for artists to share their work and ideas with one another. They occur twice a year, with a single curator assembling group of artists creating a variety of works around a theme that relates to our season. Past salons have featured short plays, full-length readings, songs, dances, puppet shows, radio plays, readings of comic books, essays, a talk show, even the pilot for Christopher Piatt’s Paper Machete. This salon focuses on our season’s theme, TIME: The Beginning And The End of Everything. Each performer is exploring an aspect of time: the past, the present, or the future in a kaleidoscope of genres and forms.

The Salon is FREE and we will be offering snacks and refreshments for a suggested donation. Social Hour begins at 7, with the main event starting at 8:00.

The Plagiarists’ manifesto is “The Ecstasy of Influence,” an essay by Jonathan Lethem about cultural ownership and artistic influence which articulates our ideals and ideas about art and creation. We believe that art is a gift given to its audience and that drawing on those gifts to make your own work is how the artistic creation process works. We select our projects as a group, write much of our work collaboratively, and encourage collaborators to have a voice in its development.

Coffee & Conversation
2017-02-18 10:00 - 13:00
Join C&C in February as we link up at Catalyst Ranch, an amazing event space in Chicago, to bring you another edition of community building over a cup of coffee!
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Catalyst Ranch
656 W Randolph St
10:00am-1:00pm (drop in any time)
Coffee provided!
Coffee & Conversation is a Chicago-based community of entrepreneurs and innovators who value collaboration and share ideas, resources, and inspiration. We can be anywhere along the start-up spectrum whether you just have ideas to share, are about to start a business, or already have your own company. Even if you don’t have your own business and just like sharing ideas, there are takeaways and great connections for everyone.
C&C holds free, public gatherings monthly on Saturday mornings, open to all! Attendees are welcome to work, talk, and socialize as much as they see fitting. Come connect over a cup of coffee and join a community of motivated people determined to hustle for their passions.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coffeeconvochi
Insta: http://instagram.com/coffeeconvochi

Las Mujeres de Cristo Rey Fundraiser
2017-02-09 18:00 - 20:30
Thursday, February 9, 2017
from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Catalyst Ranch
656 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60661

Join us for an evening to support art education at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. Guests will enjoy Mexican-influenced appetizers, wine, specialty cocktails, and learn more about the school’s mission.
$100 per person
Valet parking additional

All proceeds will support the Cristo Rey Art Fund to provide our students access to the arts.
