It has already been one year since the launch of SpaceFinder Toronto and we are thrilled to see Toronto’s creative sector benefiting from this valuable tool. To celebrate SpaceFinder Toronto’s one year anniversary, we thought we would share the site’s exciting progress over the past year.

SpaceFinder Toronto has generated over $24,000+ in rental referrals for venues using the online booking request form!
That means the 32 venues who have adopted the online booking request form have collectively received over $24,000+ in rental requests.

More venues are taking advantage of booking features:

• 32 spaces are using the online booking calendar
• 32 spaces are using booking request forms
• 7 spaces are taking online payment through the booking engine

SpaceFinder Toronto currently has 427 spaces listed! Here is how many spaces we have listed in each arts discipline:

• 270 Dance spaces
• 283 Music spaces
• 308 Theatre spaces
• 264 Film spaces
• 227 Visual Arts spaces

Other neat facts about SpaceFinder Toronto users:

• Over the last year, SpaceFinder Toronto had 170, 000 pageviews
• The site has been visited by 15,663 users
• Users spend an average of 5 minutes on SpaceFinder Toronto

Thank you for making SpaceFinder Toronto’s first year so great – we look forward to many more years working with you!

Finding alternative financing options for nonprofits is always a challenge. Derek Ballantyne, CEO at Community Forward Fund, offers new ways of funding your building projects and managing your facility in the Alternative Financing Options for Creative Spaces module of the LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshop. Derek will present and discuss financial review and assessment tools to help your organization understand alternatives for financing facility projects.

With a solid financial background in managing real estate investments and working with mutual funds, Derek brings deep knowledge of the nonprofit, charitable, social entrepreneurship, cooperative and foundation sectors at the local, provincial and federal levels.

Derek was Chief Operating Officer of Build Toronto, where he assisted in the establishment of the corporation, development of the first business plan, and execution of several large transactions and development initiatives. Prior to this, Derek was Chief Executive Officer of Toronto Community Housing, a large rental housing provider, with over $6 billion in real estate assets in Toronto. He led organizational and financial restructuring of the company, and the recapitalization and redevelopment of a significant portion of the portfolio (including the Regent Park community) as well as the commercialization of non-core functions.

Derek was a founding Director of a $430 M mutual fund and continues to participate in two investment committees for nonprofit organizations. Mr. Ballantyne sits on the board of the Laidlaw Foundation.

Watch Derek’s take on alternative financing options for nonprofits:

Derek will be presenting on Alternative Financing Options for Creative Spaces in London and Pickering at our LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshops.

Having your community behind your facility project is essential and there are a number of ways to get them engaged. Jeremy Freiburger, Chief Connector at CoBalt Connects, explores innovative ways to get the conversation going in Engaging Your Community In Your Creative Space, the fourth module of LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT.

CoBalt Connects is a nonprofit organization based in Hamilton, Ontario. CoBalt acts as the connecting element for creative communities and helps organizations interact successfully with their municipalities.

Jeremy has been a leader in Hamilton’s creative community for almost 15 years. After studying theatre and music at McMaster University and the American Music and Dramatic Academy (NYC), Jeremy returned to Hamilton and has worked at a number of the community’s major arts institutions. His experience ranges from touring the country as a musician to producing international calibre ballet, to developing studio facilities, to writing policy, plans and funding applications for municipalities and organizations. At CoBalt Connects, Jeremy focuses primarily on regional and municipal partnership development and creative sector development.

In the workshop, Jeremy will present new ways to engage your community before, during and after your facility project so that community support and involvement is built in from the ground up.

Jeremy explains a few ways creative spaces can engage their community:

You can hear Jeremy’s presentation at the LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshops in Town of Blue The Blue Mountains, Orillia, London and Pickering.

For workshop dates, registration and information, visit us here.

Tons of great workshops and webinars from ArtsBuild are coming your way this fall! So open up your schedules – here’s a complete list of what we have in store for our arts organizations over the next few months.

Oct.  20 – SpaceFinder Booking Features Webinar

Register by email at gina@artsbuildontario.ca

Is your creative space on SpaceFinder? Join us for this free one hour webinar on SpaceFinder’s online booking features. This is an opportunity to learn how the online calendar, booking request forms and booking engine can compliment your space booking process and get your space noticed!

Nov. 4 & 5 – LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT: Town of The Blue Mountains Workshop

Register here

All arts nonprofits in Town of The Blue Mountains and the surrounding area are invited to attend the two day workshop. Hosted by The Blue Mountains Public Library, the workshop will take place at the Leonard E. Shore Memorial Library (173 Bruce Street South). Registration includes access to both workshop days, catered lunch, online workshop materials and post-workshop Q&A sessions.

Nov. 10 – SpaceFinder Booking Feature Workshop

Register by email at alexisdsp@tapa.ca

Covering the same material as the webinar, this free workshop is a great chance for SpaceFinder Toronto users to learn in-person how the site’s online booking features work. Discover how you can take advantage of SpaceFinder’s online calendar, booking request forms and booking engine.

Nov. 17 & 18 – LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT : Orillia

Register here

Thanks to the generous support from the County of Simcoe, the first 20 registrants for this workshop receive a $30 discount on their registration! All arts nonprofits in Orillia and the surrounding area are encouraged to register for this valuable two day workshop. The workshop will take place at the Orillia Public Library (36 Mississauga Street West). Registration includes access to both workshop days, catered lunch, online workshop materials and post-workshop Q&A sessions.

Dec. 1 – Dollars to $ense: Energy Conservation Workshop

Register here

Designed specifically for arts facilities, nonprofits can learn energy basics and discover cost-saving opportunities from the experts. Whether you’re involved in a new build, renovation or ongoing maintenance in your facility, Energy Conservation can help you realize potential savings – and this workshop will help you understand how!

Dec. 2 – Energy Efficiency in Arts Facilities

Register here

Part of Ontario Present’s Webinar Series for Arts, this free one-hour webinar will focus on what energy efficiency changes/strategies would be most relevant to the performing arts sector in Ontario. Facitators include ArtsBuild’s very own Director of Programs, Lindsay Golds and Andrea Dwight, Principal with BLUE SKY Engineering.

It’s hard to believe that ArtsBuild Ontario’s LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshop has already traveled to five out of the 10 cities we’re set to visit across the province. Next up, we have Sudbury (Oct. 6 & 7), Town of Blue Mountains (Nov. 4 & 5) and Orillia (Nov. 17 & 18).

But why should your arts organization know about more about facilities? Other than learning about the tools and resources you need to build, finance, manage and win community support when it comes to your creative space, here’s our top five reasons we think you should attend a LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshop this year.

1. You asked and we delivered. This two day workshop is designed based on the needs expressed at our Sustainable Creative Spaces Sessions. These sessions were held in eight Ontario communities in 2013 and involved local leaders in conversations around creating spaces they needed for vibrant cultural activity in their community. We also discussed the challenges they faced in developing and maintaining these spaces. In response, LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT is centred around four key topics: Building New Facilities, Financing Options for Non-Profit Spaces, Managing Sustainable Facilities, and Engaging Your Community in Your Non-Profit Space.
2. It’s a great networking opportunity. Meet other non-profits in your community and share experiences. One participant said that “it was relaxed, gave us time to talk to other arts groups…the chance to network was priceless.” Gain perspective on your building projects through the stories of others in addition to the examples provided by our topic experts. Speaking of experts…
3. Knowledgeable and approachable experts. Our four presenters cover everything from financing projects to winning community support. While you’re grabbing a morning coffee or eating lunch, feel free to sit down, chat up an expert and gain further insight about your creative space projects.
4. Online resources. Following the workshop series, ArtsBuild Ontario will post all workshop materials online. You’ll get access to all topic areas covered in the workshop, so when you present facility ideas to your organization or revisit your workshop notes, these online resources will be there to help.
5. It gets you excited about the future of your creative space. Your creative space is a hub unique to your organization and its services. Each presentation will open up new ideas and resources to help you make your space more sustainable, manageable and engaging to the community around you.

LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT is coming to five more cities between now and 2016. We’ll be travelling to Sudbury, Town of Blue Mountains and Orillia this fall, and announcing dates for Pickering in the coming weeks.

SIGN UP FOR A WORKSHOP NEAR YOU! Space is limited, so register soon to avoid disappointment.

For more information about workshop dates and registration, read more here or contact us at gina@artsbuildontario.ca or 519.880.3670 x 101.