After we’d gotten our fill of food, the party beamed up two floors for a private screening. We were so happy with our first installment of Techweek @ the Movies. Join us next time for “The Internship,” a comedy about a coveted internship—starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.

Take a look at all our Techweek Trekkies in their Enterprise gear!

Techweek loves to go to the movies. Science fiction films, documentaries, and comedies: they have a special ability to challenge the way we think.

Techweek @ the Movies is a brand new element at Techweek. In its first year, the three part film series is headlined by “Downloaded”, the documentary about Napster and the downloading generation.

On June 26 we will host a special Director’s screening of “Downloaded”. The film’s director, Alex Winter (the famed Bill of “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) will be on site to host a Sundance style Q&A.

Attendance is open to all Conference Badge holders. Please email downloaded@techweek.com to RSVP. Like all of our Techweek @ the Movies events, seats are reserved on a first come, first served basis.

Take a look the preview:

Bastian Lehmann Postmates, Steven Greenwood Brewster, Tony Conrad about.me

There is no shortage of advice on how to start smart, but at Techweek, the Startup Summit will teach you how to stay smart and grow (with guts and gumption) towards post-revenue glory.

Has your startup signed up to win $100,000? Sign up for Techweek LAUNCH here!

Hear from inspiring leaders disrupting their respective industry:

1. Bastian Lehmann, Founder & CEO, Postmates
2. Steven Greenwood, Founder & CEO, Brewster
3. Jeremy Smith, Co-founder, SpotHero
4. Tony Conrad, CEO & Founder, about.me

Discover the latest startups at engaging Expo events:

1. Startup City – where over 70 startups will compete in LAUNCH
2. Fueled’s LAUNCH after party: Celebrate with the Midwest’s top startups
3. App Alley: Most buzzed about apps together in one Expo area

Learn practical advice and learn from others mistakes:

1. How not to get screwed by a VC
2. Pulling the pivot or the plug?
3. Navigating incubator and accelerator programs

Learn more about what you can gain. Has your startup signed up to win $100,000?

Techweek Chicago 2013 will feature 8 summits to guide attendees toward the content they want to see most. The FashionTech Summit will cover the emergence of brickless innovation in the online fashion and retail ecosystem. Meet 4 speakers below and see our summits here.

These 8 summits are a more targeted way to meet the right people, absorb the ideas you came to hear, and learn about the new companies that interest you most. Summits consist of speaker sessions, expo exhibits, and social gatherings centered around specific topics and industries.

Meet the first speakers: http://techweek.com/chicago/speakers/

Register for your badge here: http://techweek.com/chicago/register/

The 8 summits to be featured at Techweek Chicago 2013:

Get your hands on some new tech toys and learn from those who built them. The Dev Summit will feature Matt Mullenweg WordPress, Avishai Abrahami Wix.com, and PJ Hyett github

How to stay current as the future keeps coming faster: Lessons from Sal Khan Khan Academy, Marc Cenedella TheLadders, and Jeff Jarvis BuzzMachine

Where Marshall Fields once dominated, brick-less innovators now have the advantage. Hear from Adam Goldenberg JustFab, Shauna Mei AHALife, and companies Cakestyle, nomorerack, Cheeky and more!

Financial markets and the modern money exchange: See how Braintree, Hailo, and tastytrade navigate the new world of monitization, mobile payments, and electronic trading

See Chet Kanojia Aereo, Leo Resig theCHIVE, and Stefan Weitz from Bing talk about how the web became what it is today, and where it’s headed

How do successful small businesses begin to compete on an international level? Learn how companies like UPS have made the leap and enjoyed continued growth

Stay smart and grow with guts and gumption. Learn when to dig in, when to give in, and how to avoid getting screwed. Presenting companies include Bain Capital and Battery Ventures

Take a balanced look at the rapidly changing healthcare and fitness ecosystem. Companies GoHealth, Retrofit, and Briteseed headline the list of health tech contributors this year

From Left to Right: DJ Rock City; Attendees enjoying our developer roundtable discussions; Motorola’s Iqbal Arshad and Jim Wicks;
Attendees during a champagne toast

On Wednesday, April 3rd, we hosted guests from Motorola, our Techweek100 honorees, the Techweek Executive Advisory Board, and a many other Chicago tech VIPs, to celebrate three exciting announcements for Techweek:

1. Motorola is the presenting sponsor of Techweek Chicago 2013
2. Introducing 8 Techweek Summits for the June conference
3. Unveiling of this year’s Techweek100 list

Specialty champagne was passed all night as we toasted to our partnership with Motorola and to the Techweek100 honorees that were in attendance. A special thanks Iqbal Arshad, SVP of Engineering and Global Product Development, and the whole Motorola team who came out to voice their excitement about our partnership.

If you couldn’t be there for the announcements, here is what you need to know:

• Conference badges go on sale Monday- 4/8
• $375 special early bird pricing is available through Friday 4/15 or until sold out!
• Find out more about the 8 Techweek Summits to get involved in at our June event
• Check out the Techweek100 page for the complete list of this year’s honorees

Now that we are open for business, be sure to follow us on twitter, facebook, or signup for our newsletter to keep up with the latest on content, events, and parties!

Last Sunday, Techweek partnered with CDW to host the 2nd Annual official Chicago party at SXSWi. Our expo showcase featured exciting startups from the Austin market alongside Chicago tech companies who came along for the ride. Those who were packed in attendance got to dance to a four hour tribute to the history of EDM, snacked on gourmet treats from Frank and Lou Malnati’s, met over a dozen tech companies, and watched a live ninja performance (thanks Ninchat!).

Thank you to CDW and everyone who made it out to celebrate Techweek and Chicago. If you weren’t one of the close to 700 people who stopped by, then check out the full recap of photos on our Facebook page.

Can’t wait until next year? Follow us on twitter, facebook, or signup for our newsletter to hear more about upcoming parties in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

Find all of our albums on Facebook and Pinterest

Are you headed down to SXSW?  We are!  Now is the perfect time to blow off some steam and tell everyone what is new in the world of Techweek.  So for the second year, we will be throwin’ down in Austin.  Here’s the skinny:

• Who:  Open to Techweek guest list and SXSW conference badge holders
• Where:  Copa Bar & Grill, 217 Congress Avenue, Austin TX
• When:  Sunday, March 10.  Doors open @ 8PM

Want to join in the fun? RSVP here

And if you’re still looking for a ride down, our friends at StartupBus Chicago are filling a few remaining seats on the way to Austin.  So if you think you are crazy enough to hack for 3 days and show up in Austin with the latest startup (literally), then grab your spot now.

Here’s what you can expect at the Techweek Chicago Party: 

• We are bringing our top partners from the Windy City and sprinkling in some of the most innovative Austin startups selected by CDW 
• Attendees will also get to mingle with the new Techweek communities from Los Angeles and New York
• Great music, open bar, 312 beer, Chicago style hot dogs, and all things Chicago

Visit the Techweek website or follow them on twitter @thetechweek for updates and news around all our events.

Visit the official event page on Eventbrite Page

Featured companies:

Did you capture your favorite moments of Techweek in 2011 or 2012? Do you want to score a free ticket to Techweek Chicago 2013? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then we’ve got something extra special for you this week!

Submit your favorite photos from Techweek 2011 or 2012 to us on Twitter for a chance to win a FREE ticket to Techweek Chicago 2013 (a $650 value)! Tweet us @thetechweek using #techweekChi to be entered to win. The contest is open until 11:59P on February 14 and winners will be selected by March 1, 2013. See the official rules for more information.

So if you’re even thinking about attending our SXSW 2013 Innovate Chicago party in March then we have two words: Prepare Yourself.

More than 500 people attended the standing-room only party including Tom Ryan CEO, Threadless, Kevin Willer CEO, Chicagoland Entrepreneur Center, Logan LaHive Founder, Belly and Matt Maloney CEO, GrubHub.

Techweek’s 2012 Innovation Party presented by New World Ventures was a bevy of creativity.  Last year, we shared over 20 of Chicago’s best accelerators, incubators, startups and success stories with Austin.  We exported everything Chicago to Austin by delivering deep dish pizza, Garrett’s popcorn, 312 beer, and more.  Check out the highlights:

• Techweek staff ordered a Gino’s deep dish pizza through one of our party sponsors GrubHub. We delivered it 1,200 miles to our SXSW Innovate Party at the Copa Bar and Grill in downtown Austin.
• There’s no party without beer so the crew brought along a lot of 312 products to get the party started.
• No road trip would be complete without the obligatory tourist stops so we let the folks take a gander at our pizza and talk Chicago tech along the way.

So, dust off your dancing shoes, whip up your best biz cards and check your liver because the 2013 SXSW Innovate Chicago Party will be off the hook.

• 

  Jessica and Arabella set up the Chicago "watering hole" with 312

• 

  Belly CEO Logan LaHive and his crew are in full force

• 

  GrubHub CEO Matt Maloney hanging out at our bar

• 

  GiveForward booth at Techweek's SXSW party

• 

  Braintree shows off in Austin

• 

  Rishi from New World Ventures gets cozy with the Belly dog

• 

  One of 300 lucky attendees who received a FREE Chicago style hotdog

• 

  Kevin Willer & Chicago incubator 1871 having a great time late into the evening