Chicago Inno Approved: The Startup Events to Know About This Week (3/2-3/6)
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Marching into a new month. Let’s start off strong with the best tech and startup-focused events of the week:
Monday: 3/2:
Free speech vs. harassment is a fascinatingly layered internet issue. Obviously, this freedom is a crucial, necessary founding principle of the United States and an anchor tenet of the Web. It’s just lousy that people can be mean as hell online and hide behind their rights. At 1871 at 6PM, the Anti-Defamation League of Chicago is hosting ‘Free Speech, Civility and the Challenge of Cyberhate,’ a discussion on free speech in the digital age. The meetup features an impressive panel of speakers, including Monika Bickert, the Head of Global Product Policy for Facebook, and Steven Freeman, ADL’s Director of Legal Affairs.
Tuesday: 3/3:
Geekfest is a gathering of software development professionals every Tuesday afternoon at Groupon. This week, the meetup group will be hosting What we Talk About When we Talk about Testing to discuss shared difficulties in a test-driven environment. As always, there will be grub.
Wednesday: 3/4:
General Assembly, a national network of tech-focused workshops, seminars, and intensives, is moving into its new home at SPACE, a new co-working space and community in the city. On Wednesday, they’ll be hosting an Open House; see the new “space,” meet the organization, and learn about upcoming courses and classes.
Thursday: 3/5:
Hyde Park Angels, one of the largest angel organizations in the Midwest, is hosting a ‘Ready to Raise‘ event, as part of 1871’s Entrepreneurial Education Series. A panel of founders and serial entrepreneurs will discuss the pros and cons of early-stage investment versus bootstrapping and when is the right time to raise. The panel will be moderated by Pete Wilkins, the Managing Director of Hyde Park Angels.
Friday: 3/6:
Hosted by Built Worlds, the AEC Hackathon is finally making its Chicago debut this weekend. The nationally acclaimed event invited local technologists, architects, engineers, and construction professionals to collaborate in teams to solve some of the most pressing problems in the Chicago built community. (For the uninitiated, the ‘built community’ encapsulates those working at the exciting intersection of technology, architecture, engineering and construction).