Help: Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs For Space Seekers

1. Where do I log in?
2. How do I search for spaces?
3. How can I narrow my search results?
4. How do I search geographically, by neighborhood or area?
5. Why is there a range of prices on some spaces? Are there any spaces available at no cost?
6. How do I know if the space is available when I need it?
7. Do you guarantee the reliability of the information in the Spacefinder?
8. Who manages the Spacefinder?

FAQs For Venue Managers

1. How do I get started?
2. Does it cost anything to add my spaces to the Spacefinder?
3. I created an account and it’s not active yet. How do I get my account activated?
4. What is a “Venue?”
5. How do I create a new space listing?
6. I have multiple spaces that are similar. Is there a way to duplicate a listing so I don’t have to click all those little boxes again?
7. The space I made a listing for is no longer available, what should I do?
8. I have a venue outside of the city of Seattle, can I add them to the Spacefinder?
9. How do I reply to my messages?
10. How can I make my spaces appear higher in the search results?
11. What happens if I forgot my password?

FAQs For Space Seekers

1. Where do I log in?

   Only venue managers can create an account and log in to the Spacefinder to manage their listings. Artists, groups, and other space-seekers do not need to create an account and are welcome to use the tool anonymously, for free.

2. How do I search for spaces?

   From the home screen, you have four ways to search for a space:
   
   a) From the dropdown menu, choose the type of space use you’re looking for (for example, rehearsal space or meeting space) and what rental term you’re looking for (for example, hourly, or monthly) and click the Find Spaces button. (You may also choose “Any Space Type” or “Any Term.”)
   
   b) Show Me the Most Recent Listings link will show you a list of all spaces added or updated most recently. This is useful if you’re a regular user and only want to see new listings.
   
   c) Browse Spaces button in the top nav bar will also show you a list of all spaces added or updated most recently.
   
   d) The search box in the top nav bar allows you to search listings by keywords.
   
   Once you take any of the above four paths, you’ll see a list of spaces to the left of your screen, and a map of those spaces on the right.

3. How can I narrow my search results?

   If your search returned too many results to look through, you can refine your search by filtering your search results. At the top of the list of spaces, click on the filters button. As you scroll through the filter options, remember that these are “X AND Y” cumulative options, not “X OR Y” options. In other words, clicking both “Paid Parking” and “Free Parking” will return only spaces that have both “Free AND Paid Parking”. When you’re ready, click the apply filters button to return a narrowed list of search results.

4. How do I search geographically, by neighborhood or area?

   On the search results page, there will be a map on the right side of your screen. It will automatically zoom to include all of the spaces that matched your search criteria. If you want to narrow the scope of your search by area, simply zoom in towards that area in the map.

5. Why is there a range of prices on some spaces? Are there any spaces available at no cost?

   Some venues choose to offer nonprofit organizations or artists lower rental rates than those they’d charge a large corporate event, or a wedding. Often, even for nonprofits, income-generating events such as classes will cost more than rehearsals or meetings. Typically weekends will cost more than weekdays, and prices may change by season.

   Some venues are willing to subsidize rentals even further for an aligned cause they can support. Some may be willing to trade sweat-equity for space. And some venues provide no-cost space as part of their mission or business model. It never hurts to ask, but you should also be aware that the vast majority of your fellow space-seekers are also trying to maximize limited budgets, and venues (many are nonprofits themselves) are often overrun with requests. Feel free to ask for help, but also be respectful of their policies and prices.

6. How do I know if the space is available when I need it?

   Many spaces will have a linked online calendar. If available, it will be on the space’s listing page.

   Longer-term rentals (monthly and longer) will list the date when the space will be available.

   Some spaces choose to list general availability here instead of linking to a calendar. This will show as “High Availability,” “Medium Availability,” or “Low Availability,” and definitions of each of those are available if you mouse-over the text. In these cases, you’ll need to contact the space’s manager to check on specific availability.

7. Do you guarantee the reliability of the information in the Spacefinder?

   No, the information is maintained by the venue managers and is not verified by Spacefinder. You can flag a listing if you notice something wrong by clicking on the report this listing link. Please let us know and we’ll contact the venue or take down the listing.

8. Who manages the Spacefinder?

   Spacefinder Seattle was created by the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), and is supported by ARTS and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Read our “About” page for more information.

FAQs For Venue Managers

1. How do I get started?

   First you need to create an account. Each account is attached to a unique email address. The information you provide in this form is for our internal use only and will not be available to the public.
   
   You can use a single account for managing multiple venue locations (an example would be Historic Seattle, which manages rentals at multiple locations that are all connected administratively). Another option is to create multiple accounts for various locations (an example might be someone whose day-job is booking rentals at a theater, but on the side also rents out their home garage for meet-ups).

2. Does it cost anything to add my spaces to the Spacefinder?

   No. The Spacefinder’s development and ongoing support are both funded by the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture and Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. You can learn more about our work at seattle.gov/arts and seattle.gov/neighborhoods.

3. I created an account and it’s not active yet. How do I get my account activated?

   Staff at the Office of Arts & Culture will review your account and approve you during business hours. If two business days have gone by and your account is still pending, please email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll figure out what went wrong. You can, of course, do everything except publish pages before your account is approved – you can still create venues and spaces, upload information and images, etc.

4. What is a “Venue?”

   A venue is a physical location on a map. It’s a building with a unique street address, and can contain one or more rentable spaces.
   
   Once you create a account, you’ll need to create a venue. From your account dashboard, click the add a venue location button and fill in the required fields. It’s a good idea to include a photo of the exterior of your venue. The venue information will apply to all of the individual spaces in the venue. Save your venue, and you’ll be brought to a preview of the venue’s page. You can edit the venue information or continue to add a space listing.

5. How do I create a new space listing?

   A space is a rentable room (or outdoor area, or suite of rooms, or part of a room) at a venue location. The space is the thing you’re renting; it’s what space-seekers are seeking; it’s the basic unit of exchange here on the Spacefinder.

   From your account dashboard, click the add a listing button. Select a venue location, then give the space a descriptive name. Save to continue to the space listing detail page. Across the top of the page, you’ll see quick links to each section (Basic Info, Contact Info, Rental Terms, etc.) or you can simply scroll down through the sections.

   If you’re curious about how this listing will look to the space-seekers, you will see a preview of the listing after you save. You can also save and come back to edit later (you can continue to edit the listing whenever you need to). Listings are unpublished by default, and you will need to publish it to make your listing publicly viewable.

   As you work your way through the checkboxes, remember that these will become the qualities by which people will search for your space.

6. I have multiple spaces that are similar. Is there a way to duplicate a listing so I don’t have to click all those little boxes again?

   Yes. From the space listings section in your account, you can choose to duplicate a listing. Any photos or files from the original listing will not be duplicated, so you will need to upload images and files for the duplicated listing.

7. The space I made a listing for is no longer available, what should I do?

   You can choose to unpublish the space at any time. This preserves the page (invisible to the public) so that you can publish it again should it become available again.

8. I have a venue outside of the city of Seattle, can I add them to the Spacefinder?

   The Spacefinder Seattle tool is intended to help Seattle artists and organizations and Seattle venues. Now, sometimes that means helping Seattle artists or organizations find venues outside of Seattle, and sometimes it means helping those from outside Seattle find venues in town. We do ask that you only create listings for venues in the Puget Sound region (subjectively defined, but please be judicious).

9. How do I reply to my messages?

   When a space-seeker fills out a contact form, the details will be sent to the email address on file. You can also view all your contact form submissions in the messages section of your Spacefinder account. You cannot reply to the messages from the Spacefinder. You will need to reply using your regular email application.

10. How can I make my spaces appear higher in the search results?

    The default order for search results is “most recently edited.” The user may also sort results by date created or alphabetical order. If you want your spaces to appear higher in the results, you could try editing the listing – this will push it higher until it’s displaced by more recently edited listings.

11. What happens if I forgot my password?

    You can reset your password here. Enter the email address associated with your account, and instructions to reset your password will be sent to you.