About a week ago I opened up my inbox to find that I had been selected for complimentary conference passes as a Built In Fellow to Techweek Chicago 2013. I was completely ecstatic! I have been bootstrapping my start-up, bSelects.com, for a little over a year and I was looking for the opportunity to get out of my apartment-office and dive head first into a good, old-fashioned networking event that would give me some direction, business leads, and insight into the happenings of the Chicago start-up and technology scene.
So, did Techweek Chicago deliver? It sure did!
In a whirlwind of 3 straight days of non-stop conference, I experienced everything from a delightfully hilarious panel with the founder of Wordpress to Ford models in bikinis working the runway to chatting with a successful bootstrap start-up CEO and receiving his personalized business advice. I collected so many business cards I'm going to probably need to buy a Rolodex (or at least buy an app for that!).
I walked away from this conference enlightened, maybe a little hung-over, and completely galvanized about the technology scene in Chicago. I highly encourage other entrepreneurs to attend the event next year and here's why:
- A first look at innovation in Chicago:
The tech world -- it's kind of painfully cool lately and Techweek gives you a great first look at innovation, especially here in Chitown. I heard about driverless cars, Google glasses, and health monitoring devices that can coach you through surviving a heart attack. It's exciting to think that The Jetsons could be right around the corner and gets you thinking about the world of tomorrow.
- Invaluable advice from successful innovators, doers, and thinkers:
The panels at Techweek are priceless. I was able to hear advice from tech all-stars such as the SVP of Experience Design at Motorola, the CEO of kCura, and the founding developer of Wordpress (which now powers 20% of the Internet... impressive!).
- Accessibility to tech world VIPs and mover-shakers:
Probably the best element of Techweek Chicago is that you could sit down next to virtually anyone. You will meet people who will inspire you and could potentially turn into business connections in the future.
- Inspiration about where technology is headed:
I loved the way Techweek was divided into different "summits" such as Education & Work, Finance, Future of Media, etc. It will give you a fresh perspective on trends across multiple areas of the tech industry. A particular favorite of mine was the FashionTECH Summit which opened my eyes to the ways the fashion industry is changing and how big of an influence technology plays.
- Some of the best parties I've ever attended:
There are so many parties it's impossible to attend all of them. Some of the best networking you will ever do is at parties like this, and these were particularly spectacular, classy, entertaining, and a blast. Heck, The Chicago Blackhawks crashed one of them with the Stanley Cup and Jenny McCarthy was mingling at another. These parties made me proud to be a part of this industry because the people of the tech world not only work hard, they play hard.
Will I be attending Techweek next year? Definitely. And if you are an entrepreneur, an innovator, or just curious about the industry I would recommend buying a conference pass for next year too. I cannot thank Techweek.com and BuiltInChicago.com enough for the opportunity to attend this conference. I hope this will inspire others to get involved and/or attend and I can't wait to see how this conference grows by next year!
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[Photo from panel: Candid Perspectives on Bootstrapping High Tech Companies. Left to right: Maria Katris CEO of Built In, Eric Vassilatos co-founder of Vivid Seats, Brandon Cruz co-founder/President of GoHealth, Andrew Sieja CEO of kCura]
