First-Ever Chicago Ideas Week to Launch October 10-16, 2011

CHICAGO, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Brad Keywell, co-founder of Lightbank and Groupon, along with Mayor Richard M. Daley and Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, announces Chicago Ideas Week (CIW), a seven-day platform for ideas, innovation and community, to be held October 10 – 16, 2011.  Global visionaries and innovators will converge at historical and cultural institutions in Chicago during CIW to host inspiring conversations and invite the public to celebrate, collaborate and spark new ideas. Detailed schedule, speakers and partners will be announced shortly, and tickets will go on sale in July.

"Chicago Ideas Week will connect people and ideas, inspiring creativity with a platform that will further accelerate the innovation taking place in our great city," said Keywell, Chairman and Founder of Chicago Ideas Week. "Chicago is home to more than 400 major corporate headquarters, cultivating an economic diversity that has fostered the growth of more than 250,000 businesses, each of which started with an idea.  Chicago Ideas Week will bring the world's top speakers together with Chicago's best thinkers to create an ecosystem of innovation, exploration, and intellectual recreation."

In its inaugural year, CIW will feature more than 100 speakers and 60 events at over 40 locations throughout Chicago, headlined by locally, nationally and globally renowned visionaries.

"By bringing together top minds from around the world in America's most dynamic city, Chicago Ideas Week will spark new businesses, new initiatives, and new inventions," said Mayor-elect Emanuel. "Ideas Week will cement Chicago's reputation as a center of innovation and global connectivity. I am encouraged by the outpouring of support from foundations and companies and look forward to supporting Chicago Ideas Week as Mayor."

Specifically, CIW will include:

• 20 CIW Talks: Ninety-minute programs featuring prominent local and national leaders on a broad range of themes, including Architecture, Hackers, Health & Wellness, and Social Entrepreneurship, among others.
• 25 CIW Labs: Behind the scenes, exclusive experiences at fascinating locations across the city.
• 2 CIW Mega Talks: Evening programs that feature distinguished and globally recognized speakers, covering the most important topics of today, presented in refreshing and perhaps unexpected formats.
• TEDxMidwest: The locally and independently organized TEDxMidwest brings top speakers for a day-long adult event as well as a TEDxYouth event for 550 diverse high school students.
• CIW Bash: Evening events at Chicago's Park West, featuring Mucca Pazza, Eclectic Method and more, and a variety of concerts around Chicagoland as a part of Chicago Ideas Week.
• Ignite - Chicago Ideas: A high-energy afternoon of 5-minute talks by people who have an interesting idea to share with their hometown crowd.

Co-curated by Mike Hettwer, Linda Stone and Keywell, the CIW schedule is designed to bring the most provocative thought leaders from a wide range of fields to Chicago.

"One of Chicago's great strengths is its ability to see the possibilities in things, which is another way of saying 'innovation.' As a result, the City has become a global center of intellectual capital that boasts an abundance of new product and technology advancements with some of the world's leading companies. Chicago Ideas Week is a groundbreaking event that both builds on and will strengthen that tradition," Mayor Richard M. Daley said.

Event organizers have also enlisted the support of several partners, which will be integral in bringing CIW to life. These organizations include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Microsoft Corp., the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and Fast Company.

McKinsey & Company will serve as the official Knowledge Partner of Chicago Ideas Week. Chicago Booth (The University of Chicago Booth School of Business) will serve as the official Education Sponsor of Chicago Ideas Week.

The event's media partners are NBC Chicago and the Chicago Tribune Media Group.

CIW's exclusive integrated marketing and strategic communications partner is Ogilvy Chicago.

CIW's exclusive experience partner is Culture 22.

About Chicago Ideas Week

Chicago Ideas Week is an annual seven-day celebration of ideas, innovation and community, with a focus on bringing the world's best speakers together with the Midwest's best thinkers. It is the platform for ideas, created for innovators, thinkers, doers and interested members of Chicago and the greater Midwest. CIW's goal is to stimulate new initiatives and ventures, create new connections and collaborations, and establish a community of people who have the desire to achieve great things. For more information, please visit www.chicagoideas.com.

SOURCE Chicago Ideas Week