Chicago Discussions

The discussion day (Saturday, March 1) is invitation only but we're doing our best to accommodate all requests for an invite. To request one just add yourself to the list on this page.

Emcee: Dan Sinker

• David McCreath (Mule Radio) and Melissa Pierce (COO Everpurse, Director Chicago Women Developers, Filmmaker)
  2:00pm
  Summary

• Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) and Genevieve Thiers (Founder sittercity.com, opera singer)
  2:45pm
  Summary

• Chris Kaskie (President Pitchfork, The Dissolve) and Samuel Valenti IV (Ghostly, drip.fm)
  3:30pm
  Summary

• Jessica Hopper (Music Editor, Rookie) and Jes Skolnik (Board Pure Joy, musician, writer)
  4:30pm
  Summary

• Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon and Naomi) and Harper Reed (former CTO, Obama for America)
  5:15pm
  Summary

Guidelines

1. No pitches. We’ll introduce speakers, their company/band, and whatever context is relevant. They're encouraged to talk about your world, but we've asked everyone to stay away from sales pitch mode or we’ll call bullshit.

2. Ask questions. The goal is to start conversations — between speakers and with the people in attendance. It's okay to not have answers to everything. "I don't know" is a powerful idea.

3. Be positive. There are plenty of problems out there, but let’s talk about solutions and ideas. Any problem can be solved, so let’s use the summit talk with each other about ways forward instead of enumerating issues.

4. Be flexible. Don't be offended if someone has to leave in the middle of a talk. Don't feel bad if you have to leave. There's room to talk in a side room and we encourage you to do so if you want to talk while conversations are going on.