A thought: What if Chicago had a full month of hundreds of events for entrepreneurs and innovators, keeping us running until we collapse in a pile of Halloween candy wrappers on Oct. 31?
Oh wait, we do. It’s called October.
This week the Momentum Awards gala revealed its winners; the Economic Club hosted Hillary Clinton in an interview with J.B. Pritzker and NFTE Chicago had its fund-raiser. Blue Sky hosted two events, too, one on 3D printing and one with chef Rick Bayless.
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Chicago Ideas Week launches next week with 20-plus events each day. And the Chicago Innovation Awards are coming Oct. 30.
Let’s catch our breath for a minute, though, because this story by business columnist Melissa Harris deserves to rise above the noise. It’s about Sandee Kastrul and the stark wakeup calls — yes, it took more than one — that made her realize she wasn’t as visible as she thought she was, and as she needed to be, in her organization and to her community. (In the same story: How Harper Reed’s diet once gave him gout. Hey, we all make mistakes.)
Kate MacArthur’s piece on ThoughtWorks CTO Rebecca Parsons is thought-provoking, including her views on women in business and technology and the need to think big when it comes to problem-solving. “I worry that a lot of what we’re doing in the incubators, hackathons and appathons are small solutions to small problems, like an app that provides information to a village health worker versus a system that tackles the interconnecting web that continues to make diseases like polio and malaria a reality,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tesla made a major reveal, Chicago Ventures funded Morsel, BloomNation and Curbside and Paul Smith talked healthcare.gov and the need for tech talent to step up and help make government run better.
As always, there’s much more, including more stories, the innovation hub, video features and the daily Spark, at blueskyinnovation.com.
Happy Chicago Marathon. And here’s a creative exercise we enjoyed this week: Tribune photographer Brian Cassella used a shift-tilt lens to photograph the Loop, causing real scenes in Chicago to appear miniaturized. Here’s to new perspectives.
Enjoy your weekend!