Chicago Forward Exchange: Referrals, Partners & Next Moves

Most networking events make one assumption:

Put enough professionals in one room and useful connections will happen.

Sometimes they do.

Often they don't.

People stay with colleagues they already know.

Conversations remain surface-level.

Business cards get exchanged without any clear reason to follow up.

And solo attendees spend the first twenty minutes figuring out how to enter a conversation.

Chicago Forward Exchange is designed differently.

This is a smaller professional gathering for entrepreneurs, business owners, technology professionals and ambitious Chicago professionals who want useful conversations without the pressure of traditional networking.

There is no keynote.

• No panel.
  
• No stage pitches.
  
• No three-minute speed-networking rounds.
  Instead, the evening uses a simple framework:
  

I CAN HELP WITH

I'M LOOKING FOR

WHAT I'M WORKING ON NEXT

Guests move through two small-group connection rounds and then have open time to continue the conversations that feel genuinely relevant.

The goal is not to meet everyone.

The goal is to meet the right few people.

Program Timeline

• 6:10 PM–6:30 PM
  Doors & Easy Arrival
  Check in, complete your Connection Profile and settle in.
  No forced networking activity begins immediately.
  
• 6:30 PM–6:40 PM
  Welcome
  A short explanation of:
  the event structure;
  Connection Profiles;
  table etiquette;
  anti-solicitation rules;
  mutual contact exchange.
  
• 6:40 PM–7:10 PM
  Working Connections — Round One
  Groups of approximately 5–6.
  Starting prompt:
  What are you working on, changing or trying to figure out right now?
  
• 7:10 PM–7:20 PM
  Reset & Table Change
  Continue a conversation, refill water or move to the next group.
  
• 7:20 PM–7:50 PM
  Working Connections — Round Two
  New mix of attendees.
  Starting prompt:
  What kind of person, resource or perspective would make your next step easier?
  
• 7:50 PM–8:00 PM
  Connection Map
  Privately identify:
  one person you can help;
  one conversation worth continuing;
  one introduction that could be useful.
  
• 8:00 PM–8:35 PM
  Open Professional Social
  Continue useful conversations or meet someone from another table.
  No mandatory rotation.
  
• 8:35 PM–8:42 PM
  Opt-In Introduction Requests
  Submit organizer-routed introduction requests.
  Introductions are made only when both sides agree.
  
• 8:42 PM–8:45 PM
  Closing
  

Event venue & nearby stays

Two Thirty, 230 West Superior Street, Chicago, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.

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