How would you get senior tech workers to leave Silicon Valley, Seattle, NYC, and Washington DC, and move to Chicago?

Chicago is where tech meets world.

Tech? Seattle. Innovation? San Francisco. Finance? New York. Film? LA. Every city has an association. But what about Chicago? Here’s the thing - we need to position Chicago as a leading tech hub, but that is simply not enough. Seattle, Silicon Valley, Washington and NYC are tech references too, and we cannot compete with their established reputations.

What we CAN compete with is with having the most out of the ordinary, adventurous, fun-loving tech workers. There’s a silly stereotype that those in the industry are boring, geeky introverts who have no life outside of work, or in its defect, who hate fun.

Our strategy is to showcase the city as the perfect blend between a city powerhouse and those quaint little moments that build up to create what we call ‘a life worth living’. It’s a city with 2.6M people, it’s a shock - of cultures, of backgrounds, of industries... it’s a city where you can grab a coffee with an accountant, have a drink with a marketer and go for dinner with a lawyer. It offers an opportunity to escape the saturated tech landscape, and derive inspiration from a diverse set of people.

Chicago is where variety is, where every individual brings something unique along with themselves. We want to show the other side of working in tech - the side that really matters. We want to show individuals having fun and redefining the status quo. After all, Chicago gives you the tools to create a life of your own, without imposing industry stereotypes on you.

In collaboration with:

Carmen Gutierrez de la Rosa

Priyal Shah