Party people need party places and PhillySpaceFinder hits the spot. With 163 venues in its database, PhillySpaceFinder is a powerful, free, and flexible tool to help groups, meetings, weddings, and performance events locate the perfect room.
The service began as a paperback guide called The Space Directory back in the early 1990s, published by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Bringing the listing online creates a searchable database. According to Karim Olaechea, Public Relations Manager for the Cultural Alliance, the quest for a venue starts by narrowing down by type and specific neighborhood or radius around a zip code. "There's a lot of really key information about each space, including dimensions, cost, capacity, and permitted uses. Once you find a place, you can see what activities are allowed, if there are restrictions, hours of operation and overall policies." Each listing provides direct contact information.
PhillySpaceFinder is a joint effort co-sponsored by GPCA, the Theater Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia Music Project and Dance USA Philadelphia. The effort grew out of NYC Performing Arts Spaces, a similar initiative pioneered by the nonprofit umbrella group FracturedAtlas, but the Philadelphia version adds venue photos, interactive maps, and the ability to mark favorites and save searches.
Olaechea adds that "it's also a great resource for the venues themselves, because they can use the directory to get real revenues." There is no charge to list a space on the directory.
Source: Karim Olaechea, GPCA
Writer: Sue Spolan