Choose Chicago: At Your

Fingertips

top cities for tech entrepreneurship. Entre- preneurs can find everything they need to succeed: world-class talent, a dynamic community, and a natural base of Fortune 500 customers,” said J.B. Pritzker, founder and managing partner of Te Pritzker Group, and founder of New World Ventures, one of Chicago’s leading venture-capital firms.

“We’re seeing new startups form practically every day, and entrepreneurs are increas- ingly moving here to build their businesses.” Chicago’s tech scene garnered big head-

lines in 2011 when Groupon, the homegrown daily-deal website, raised $700 million in its initial public offering. But Chicago’s tech community is much deeper than Groupon, with city advocates quick to remind people that Orbitz, GrubHub, CareerBuilder, Sitter- City, and Navteq are all Chicago products. And those are just the old-timers. Accord-

ing to Built In Chicago, a social-networking platform that works to promote and con- nect the city’s digital entrepreneurs, 128 web-based startups launched in Chicago

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last year. Tat’s one every 72 hours. Te innovators behind those startups aren’t just slackers living in their parents’ base- ments, either, as evidenced by the strong venture-capital activity in Chicago. In 2011, 77 digital technology companies raised $1.45 billion — 431 percent more than in 2010. “Chicago has a strong community of digital tech entrepreneurs who are always willing to provide advice and lend a help- ing hand,” said Matt Moog, founder and CEO of Viewpoints.com and chair of Built In Chicago. “We have a strong eco-system of educational, corporate, and civic institu- tions who work together to provide talent, ideas, and capital to fuel a growing technol- ogy community.”

Chicago Is Breakthrough Discoveries

Medical and scientific meetings have a long tradition in Chicago, which hosts 17 of the 25 largest such conferences in the United States on a regular, rotating

AUGUST 2012 PCMA CONVENE 95

Choose Chicago’s website (choosechicago.com) offers everything meeting professionals and business travelers need to plan and promote their business meetings — and more. At choosechicago.com, meeting professionals can access experiential content, search for vendors, submit RFPs, and utilize marketing tools to help promote their events.

A 2011 agreement with travel booking engine Orbitz Worldwide brought robust travel-planning services directly to choosechicago. com. At the site, a customized booking engine incorporates Chicago’s vast hotel inventory and allows business travelers to research and book air, car, and attractions in one place.